


Nothing Left To Lose

by RhysMerilot



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU Season Five, Angst with a Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-30
Updated: 2015-10-11
Packaged: 2018-04-18 01:10:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 70,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4686620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RhysMerilot/pseuds/RhysMerilot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As the darkness takes hold of Emma, making her spiral out of control, Regina steps forward as the Savior. With secrets and questionable methods tarring the battle, will Regina succeed in bringing Emma back to the light?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I should give a fair warning that there is slight mentions of Hood/Hook, but that is all it is, slight mentions. If you have issues with either/both, I can safely say that getting through said slight mentions is worth it, and you'll see why once you read through the first few chapters...
> 
> I was apprehensive of writing a Dark Swan fic, mostly because almost everyone is doing it, but I believe what I am about to present to you comes with an original plot and (hopefully) not one that has been done before.
> 
> I cannot guarantee updates at the moment, but my muse is definitely gearing towards this story right now. I have a lot planned out for this one and I'm quite excited for the ride ahead! Don't forget to leave any thoughts/comments after the first chapter, but be patient because this is most definitely a slow burn SwanQueen story (my ultimate favorite!)
> 
> Enjoy :)

It had been weeks since it happened, weeks since the realization that Emma Swan had sacrificed herself to save _her_ and not just the entire town. It had been weeks since Emma had been pulled into the darkness and up into the night sky. Emma Swan had essentially disappeared not just from Storybrooke, but from the rest of the world as well it seemed.

No matter how hard she looked for her, there was no sign of her anywhere. Not even using the dagger to call her forth had worked. Emma's parents had tried to call her forth to no avail. Henry tried only once and had been left devastatingly heartbroken that his birth mother refused to answer to him too. Regina had taken possession of the dagger before anyone else could try and she hid it in her vault, beyond a protection spell that would grant only her access to the Dark One's dagger.

"Mom?" Henry called out as he descended down the stairs into the vault. "Are you down there?"

"Yes, Henry."

Regina sat on a trunk, flipping through one of the hundreds of spell books she'd acquired from Gold's shop while he lay in the hospital in a coma. She had hoped to find some answers or anything that would help her find out where Emma Swan had disappeared to, but the books had proven to be useless thus far.

She looked up as Henry entered the main room of the vault and he frowned slightly as he took in the sight of the books scattered all around the floor. She knew he was upset that she hadn't been home in a handful of days and submersed herself in the useless books while looking for answers, for anything.

"Did you find anything?" Henry asked, looking around at the contents of her vault and knowing better than to touch things he wasn't supposed to touch. "Mom?"

"Not yet," Regina sighed as she shut the book she had open in her lap. "What are you doing here, Henry? Shouldn't you be in school?"

Henry shrugged and Regina looked at him with a disappointed glare. "I'm worried about her, Mom."

"Worried enough to skip school?" Regina asked. "Henry, you know your studies are important. You shouldn't—"

"I can't focus on school work right now," he said quietly. "All I can think about is where she might be and if she's okay. What if she isn't okay, Mom?"

"I'm sure she's fine."

"What if she isn't? What if she's hurt? She's all alone, Mom. What if—"

"Henry, I'm doing everything that I can right now," Regina sighed tiredly, this very conversation not the first but one of many they'd had over the last couple of weeks.

"What about the dagger?" Henry inquired. "Have you tried to use it again?"

She had tried and failed many times, much more than she cared to admit. She stood up from the trunk and smoothed her hands down her black blazer before she walked over to her distraught son. She pulled him in for a hug and rested her head against his, taking a moment to marvel over how much he'd grown up, especially ever since he had brought Emma Swan into their lives. She sighed and kissed the side of his head before stepping out of his tight embrace.

"You have, haven't you?" Henry asked and he nodded in understanding when she didn't say a word. "What if it doesn't work the way that it used to?"

"Henry, there is so much we will never know about the Dark One and the dagger. If Gold was awake, there is only so much that he could tell us too. Nothing like this has happened, not since the Dark One was tethered to a human soul and the dagger. For all we know, the connection between the Dark One and the dagger could have been severed when she—when she—"

"Saved you," Henry finished for her. "She saved you, Mom."

"She did," Regina nodded with a tight grimace. "Come on, why don't we go home and I'll fix us some lunch?"

"You're not going to send me back to school?"

"I should," Regina said and Henry frowned. "I suppose I can allow you the day off, but you are going to go tomorrow and you are not going to skip another day of school. Do you understand, Henry? It is important for you to keep up with your studies regardless of what else is happening in our lives at the moment."

"Fine. Whatever."

Regina chuckled at his defiant attitude. He was a growing boy, a teenager, and the changes he was going through were all too clear to see. With the changes came the shift in his attitude and Regina knew it wasn't all because his other mother was missing, but that did account for it in some ways, more than the natural changes he was currently going through.

They were silent on the drive home. Henry just stared out the window and Regina kept her eyes on the road despite her wandering thoughts that distracted her endlessly. She thought about everyone that was involved in their lives, the people closest to them. She had barely passed much thought on Robin Hood since Emma's sacrifice and the distance she'd put between them had agitated the man to no end. She hadn't seen nor spoken with him since that night and she hadn't planned on seeking him out either. Things were already a mess between them and her weeks spent trying to find Emma gave her purchase on what her relationship with Robin really was.

It had only been a few days before that she had spent the night locked in her bathroom, soaking in a hot bubble bath while her thoughts ran wild. It was then she came to the realization that what had broken her heart weeks before was that she wasn't in love with that man she was _destined_ to be with. She was in love with the idea of having a soul mate and not the man himself. She couldn't further degrade herself because she had not been his first choice, first with Marian when she came back through the portal and then again when it was revealed that Marian hadn't been Marian all along.

He had chosen her sister, long since thought dead. It had hurt deeply, of course, but the more she thought back to those moments when he had chosen another over her willingly and because he had a code to live by, the more she realized that she didn't want him to choose her again.

It was also that very night she thought of Emma, of their history together and of their friendship they'd developed more recently. Regina had never had a friend like Emma Swan and she had never grown to care about someone in the way she cared about her. It wasn't just because they were friends or because they were both Henry's mothers, it went far deeper than that and it was only during that hour long bath that she explored her feelings for the new Dark One.

Regina hadn't seen it coming until it hit her hard, like a pulse of white magic that burned deliciously through her body when it mingled with the darkness inside of her heart and soul. Love was power, not weakness as she had believed for most of her life. Love was power that chased away the darkness that had lingered inside of her for a long time. Love was power that came in the form of Emma Swan, the Savior and daughter of Prince Charming and Snow White.

The realization had caused her to break down in tears and not because she was in love with Emma Swan, but because of who, of what Emma had become. The tears only stopped when Henry knocked on the bathroom door because he had heard her crying and was increasingly concerned about her state of being. She assured him that she was all right, that she was merely exhausted over the events of the last couple of weeks, and he looked at her in that way she knew he didn't believe her, but had left it alone. The last thing she wanted to do was confess her feelings about his other mother before she had a chance to tell Emma herself.

Love, being in love with Emma Swan, it shouldn't have been possible, but it was there and the realization of it only made those feelings stronger and deeper than they had before. It sent her on an endless path, one shrouded with wonder and questions that she had no answers for. Love was something that had built over time, love that came after the deep hatred that was there in the very beginning, love that came with friendship, of understanding, of being two people that nobody else could understand yet they could with one another. Love had come without her realizing it until it was too late, too late to change the course they were on, too late to change their future, however they may have been able to do that.

It came with more questions, especially about how Emma may feel about her in return. As far as Regina knew, Emma loved the pirate. She had watched their relationship evolve slowly over time and she had watched him pine over and chase Emma to no avail. When she looked back now, she realized there had been so many small moments where the jealously had singed her heart, jealousy because she had longed to be in the pirate's place, to be the one that had won over Emma's heart.

He had been useless since that night when she tore the dagger out of his hands as he screamed out for Emma. She had watched him fall into a pit of despair, his nights spent at the Rabbit Hole drinking until he passed out cold. He had tried to spend time with Henry, but even Regina knew her son was not a fan of the handless wonder. Not one ounce of her felt any pity for that man and the distress he was going through with Emma's sacrifice and disappearance.

"Mom?" Henry asked, pulling her from her thoughts. "Mom, are you all right? You just passed the house."

"Oh," Regina said as she shook herself from her daze and realized she had indeed driven right past their house. "I—I didn't realize."

"Mom, are you sure you're okay?" Henry asked and he placed a hand on her shoulder as she came to a slow stop and put the car in reverse. "Have you been sleeping at all?"

"Y—yes I have, Henry," she sighed and she backed up on the street and turned into the driveway. She forced a smile as she turned to him. "What do you feel like for lunch?"

"Could you make some grilled cheese?"

Regina swallowed hard and smiled. "Grilled cheese it is," she said as she pulled the keys out of the ignition and got out of the car before Henry could see the pained look on her face.

The last time she'd made grilled cheese was the week before everything had fallen apart again, before the trip to New York City. Emma had come around to the house, as she normally did on Sunday's for lunch with her and Henry, only Henry had gone to visit the Charming's that morning and Emma came alone. Even without Henry being around, Emma still wanted Regina to cook up a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches. Regina remembered the laughter that followed when she told Emma, for the umpteenth time, that she ate like a child. She remembered the way Emma winked at her before pulling out the hard cheese from the spot in the refrigerator and sliced enough pieces for three sandwiches. She remembered the way Emma had devoured the first one after she'd finished making them and how she moaned in delight as she ate the second.

It wasn't the first time that had happened, that it had been just the two of them for lunch when it was usually a family affair, a few hours they spent with their son as a family. She enjoyed spending time with Emma, just with Emma. They had gotten so used to one another that they talked about everything and anything. The laughter they shared was something she had missed in the last couple of weeks, something that she craved to hear once again.

"Mom?" Henry called out from the front door and she realized that she hadn't moved from beside the car in a handful of minutes. "Are you coming? I'm starving."

"Be right there, Henry," Regina replied, hating the wavering sound of her voice and hope that Henry hadn't noticed. If he had, she knew she could convince him it was simply because she was tired and not for any other reason at all.

Regina headed up to the front door and she felt it immediately, the small yet steady pulse of magic nearby and not just any magic, _Emma's_ magic. Regina rushed into the house and let the door slam behind her as she ran up the four steps into the foyer. Henry was already halfway up the stairs, his backpack on the landing, but she spun around before she could scold him about picking it up and followed that pulse of magic that felt stronger than it had when she'd first felt it just outside.

She followed it as it pulled her towards the study and she placed her hand on the closed door. She waited until she heard Henry's bedroom door shut before she reached tentatively for the handle, gasping in surprise when the door flung open suddenly. Regina inhaled as she took a step inside and tried not to let her emotions show on her face or in her eyes when she found none other than Emma Swan, dressed all in black and perched on her mahogany desk.

"Hello, Regina," Emma practically purred as Regina took another step inside the study and shut the door quickly behind her. "How have you been?"

"Emma."

Emma smirked as she lifted the crystal glass she had in her right hand to her lips and downed what Regina guessed was one of her finer whisky's in one gulp. She exhaled sharply as she gently placed the crystal glass on the desk beside her, but she didn't move, she just uncrossed her legs and inhaled sharply before crossing them again.

Regina didn't say a word as she walked over to the table to get herself a drink, pouring a glass half full of cider before she turned to Emma. "Would you like another drink?"

"Do you think I came here for a drink, Regina?"

"Well, you've already helped yourself to one, why not have another?" Regina asked and the way that Emma laughed sent chills down her spine. It wasn't her usual laugh, it was bitter and laced with an aura of darkness. "What were you drinking?"

"Tasted like scotch."

"Whisky," Regina said and reached for the tumbler she knew had been a lot fuller than the less than half that was left in it. With her cider in one hand and the tumbler in the other, she approached Emma and stilled her nerves as she poured her a drink in the crystal glass next to her. "Have you been here long?"

"Not really," Emma said with a roll of her eyes and she grabbed on to Regina's wrist when she stopped pouring her drink. "Leave that right here. I like it. Where did you get it?"

"I had it shipped in from out of town about twenty years ago," Regina replied and she took a step back, trying not to let her eyes linger on Emma, but with the way she was dressed, it was hard not to stare. "What are you doing here, Emma?"

"It's been a while, hasn't it? I thought I'd stop by in case you thought I was dead."

"I've been looking for you."

"Have you?" Emma laughed dryly. "I take it you haven't been trying too hard, have you? Or else if you had tried a little harder, you would've found me before now."

"Where have you been?" Regina tried again, ignoring the sneer that curled over Emma's red lips. She knew this woman in front of her now was not the same woman she'd grown to love and care for, but she knew that there was still a part of her underneath the darkness that had gripped her soul. "Where have you been, Emma? Everyone has been worried sick about you."

Emma looked indifferent and slightly amused as she lifted the glass to her lips. Her red lipstick left an imprint behind when she pulled the glass away and those very same lips curled into another smirk and it made Regina long for the playful one she'd grown to love seeing, especially after Emma told a joke that wasn't entirely appropriate.

Regina sipped her cider and took another step back, wanting to put some distance between herself and Emma because she could not only feel the darkness inside of her, she could practically taste it. Emma chuckled dryly as she slipped off the desk and pulled at her tight leather jacket and downed the rest of her drink.

"I've been around," Emma said slowly. "Here and there. Mostly there and not here."

Regina clenched her jaw tightly, watching Emma as she stalked around her in a predatory-like fashion. The heels that Emma wore gave her a bit of a height advantage and it was almost intimidating the way that Emma's eyes roamed over her body. Regina inhaled sharply and caught the faintest smell of sweet vanilla underneath the strong smell of whisky that clung to Emma's breath.

"Aren't you going to ask me again where I've been, Regina? Aren't you going to ask me how I am doing? Aren't you going to ask if I've been a good girl all this time?"

"No."

"No?" Emma laughed and Regina lifted her glass to take another sip, to try and swallow the lump that was beginning to rise in her throat. "Come on, Regina, you can't tell me that you don't want to know where I've been all this time, if I'm okay, if I'm resisting the darkness that floods through my fucking veins like fire. You can't tell me you don't want to know what it feels like, if it hurts any less if I give into temptation. Do you want to know what temptations I've had since I _saved you_?"

"And what would those be exactly, hmm?" Regina caved despite not wanting to further aggravate Emma since it was clear she was on edge and about to snap. "Do share if you must, but keep your voice down. I do not want Henry to know you are here right now."

"Trying to keep him from seeing me again?"

"Emma—"

"Oh, is it because of who I am now?" Emma asked and she batted her eyelashes and gasped in mock surprise. "Afraid that I'll corrupt him, Regina? That I'll hurt him?"

"You would never hurt Henry."

"No, you're right, I would never hurt _my_ son," Emma replied and she scoffed. "You, however, I might just play around with you for a little while. Why, you ask?" Emma paused as she tapped her index finger against her chin. "Oh, I know, because if there is one thing I haven't forgotten is how you treated me when I first came to Storybrooke. What? Did you think that just because we were friends that I've somehow magically forgotten how things used to be between us?"

"I was under the impression that we had moved past that a long time ago."

"Wrong," Emma snapped. "You might have, but I haven't."

"That is not true," Regina said as she struggled to keep her voice down. "Have you forgotten everything that we've been through together?"

"No," Emma murmured and Regina could see that she was fighting something inside of her, whether it was the voices in her head or the darkness that burned through her veins. Emma's mood shifted quickly and Regina felt the force of magic throw her across the room and pin her to the wall. "You know what darkness tastes like, don't you, Regina?"

"Emma—"

"I bet you wished I hadn't saved you at all, that maybe it wouldn't have killed you, but filled you with this incredibly intoxicating power I have right now. I bet you wished it were you going through this, hmm? I bet you've dreamt of having power like this, to be even a shred of who you once were. Am I right, your majesty?"

"No," she whispered hoarsely and her fingers lost grip on her glass and the crystal smashed to pieces the moment it hit the floor. "Don't do this, Emma. You are better than this. You can fight it. I know you can. You can fight it long enough for us to figure out a way to rid you of it completely."

Emma smirked as she stepped closer to her, her heels crunching against the shattered glass. Emma's eyes raked up and down her body just before she felt herself being lowered down until her feet just barely touched the floor.

"Mom?" Henry called out and Emma shot a hand out towards the door, magically locking it in place. Henry tried to open it and started pounding on the door. "Mom, are you okay? Mom! Open the door!"

"Tell him everything is fine, Regina," Emma said as she leaned in to whisper into her ear.

"Everything is fine, Henry," Regina called out, her voice sounding a little strained.

"What happened? I heard a crash," Henry replied and tried the door again. "Why is the door locked, Mom?"

"I—I dropped a glass of cider, dear. There's glass everywhere. It's best if you don't come in here right now."

"Do you want me to get the broom?"

"No," Regina said as Emma practically pressed her body up against hers. "I'll clean it up. Go back upstairs, Henry, and I'll let you know when lunch is ready."

"Good girl," Emma purred into her ear and Regina tensed when she felt Emma's hot tongue traced over the shell of her ear ever so lightly. "Don't you want me to play with you, Regina? Hmm?"

"No," she said with a tremble in her voice. "Stop it, Emma. This isn't you. This is—"

"The Dark One?" Emma chuckled dryly. "Maybe it is or have you considered that perhaps becoming what I am now has allowed me to be who I was so afraid of before?"

Regina pulled her magic deep from inside of her to break the hold that Emma had on her and she shoved her back, not with the force of magic, but by her own two hands. "Get out of my house. Now."

"I thought you were looking for me, Regina, and now you're telling me to get out? My, my, it seems as if someone can't make up her mind," Emma tittered. "Try the dagger again, maybe this time I'll come a running and you can make me do whatever you want me to do…"

Regina barely breathed until Emma disappeared in a swirl of white and black smoke. She gasped as she clutched at her chest, her heart racing wildly against her ribs. With a wave of her hand, she cleaned up the broken shards of crystal from the floor and pulled open the study door, relieved to find that Henry had, for once, listened to her.

Henry was in the kitchen when she walked in a moment later and she gasped in surprise since she hadn't expected him to be in there at all. She was still rather flustered after her encounter with Emma Swan and she fanned at her face at an attempt to calm herself down and hoped that Henry wasn't as nearly observant as he normally was. Luckily for her, he was at the stove, frying up his own grilled cheese sandwich.

"I was getting hungry," Henry said without turning around. "Couldn't wait any longer so I started cooking it myself. Don't worry about the mess," he continued and for the first time Regina looked over at the mess on the island countertop. "I'll clean it up after."

Regina nodded and removed her blazer, draping it over her left arm as she walked over to the small table by the back door. She placed the blazer on the back of one of the chairs and sat down, a heavy sigh escaping past her lips and one that went unheard by Henry at the stove. She ran her fingers through her hair a few times before reaching around to pull her Blackberry out of her blazer pocket.

Scrolling through her contacts, she stopped when she reached Snow's name. She knew she had to call them, to tell them that Emma had come to her, but a part of her didn't want to have anyone know. Not yet.

She needed to see Emma once more, to talk to her, to find out a little more of who she had become in the last couple of weeks since that fateful night that forever changed all of their lives. She placed her phone on the kitchen table and turned to watch as Henry flipped his grilled cheese sandwich in the pan effortlessly and smiled to himself when it didn't fall apart like it normally did when he tried to make it himself.

"Henry?"

"Yeah, Mom?" Henry asked as he looked over at her. "What is it?"

"Could you make me one too?" She asked and he laughed softly. "What?"

"You're kidding, right?" Henry asked. "You don't even like grilled cheese."

"I do, I just—I haven't had it in a little while, that's all."

"When was the last time you even ate it? I don't remember you ever eating it when you made it for me and Ma when she used to come around for lunch sometimes."

Regina sighed and glanced down at her hands as she folded them in her lap. There was still so much that Henry didn't know about her friendship with Emma and it wasn't just the feelings that Regina had developed for her either. He had no idea that on those days he was at the Charming's instead of at the house that Emma came for lunch anyway. He had no idea just how much time they truly spent together nor did he know of their almost daily lunches that took place at the Charming's loft when Snow and David took the baby out to the park for their midday walk.

"A few weeks, Henry," Regina finally replied, but he was no longer looking at her and she was grateful because she knew as hard as it was to hide her true feelings from Emma was, it was almost impossible with him. "So, how about it? Will you make me one too?"

"Cheddar?" Henry asked before platting his own sandwich and grabbed the loaf of bread and twisted off the twist-tie. "Or do you want it with a bit of Monterey Jack too?"

That was Emma's favourite, cheddar with just a few thin slices of Monterey Jack thrown in for a little kick of flavour. She just nodded and cleared her throat. "Yes, that would be lovely, Henry. Would you like a hand with that?"

"I got it, Mom."

"Yours is going to get cold."

"I like it cold," Henry chuckled. "Ma does too."

"I know."

"She'll turn up soon, won't she? Either you'll find her or she'll just come back, right?" Henry asked and it almost broke her heart to hear how hopeful he was and it ripped her to pieces because she wasn't telling him the truth. "Do you think she's okay? That wherever she is, she's okay and maybe she misses us too?"

"I don't know, Henry. I don't know."

He just nodded and she got up from the chair and walked over to where the iPod was charging. She turned it on and flicked through the playlists before finding one that Emma had made the last time she'd hijacked the iPod and tried to "educate" her on what was classified as good music. She put it on the docking station and the sound of "Jumper" by Third Eye Blind filled the kitchen. Henry just laughed as he made up her sandwich and placed it in the frying pan before waving the flipper in time to the beat of the song.

Regina poured him a glass of milk while he cooked her sandwich and instead of eating at the table, they stood at the island and ate together, listening as the iPod shuffled through the playlist several times. She saw the look on his face every time a new song began to play and she knew from that look that he was tempted to say something, but he didn't, he just enjoyed his cold grilled cheese sandwich and drank his milk.

"Did Emma leave her iPod here again?"

"No, she put this on mine," Regina replied as she cleared away their plates.

"Oh," Henry said under his breath. "Didn't think you liked this type of music."

"It's…grown on me, I must admit," she said and she shook her head before tossing a damp dishcloth towards him. "I believe you promised you would clean up the mess that you've made, dear."

"On it," Henry said with a smile.

After they cleaned the kitchen, they retreated to the den where Henry read some comics he'd bought with his allowance the day before and Regina lounged on the couch and idly flipped through the Cosmopolitan magazine that Emma had left just last month. They had a quiet afternoon together and despite her exhaustion, she fought the urge to curl up on the couch and take a much needed nap. The magazine was doing nothing to derail her thoughts that always seemed to turn right back to one Emma Swan, more so now than ever before after that surprise visit of hers.

By the time five o'clock rolled around, Henry retreated upstairs to play some video games and Regina headed into the kitchen to make dinner for the two of them. She took the chicken out of the freezer before moving to pick up her phone from the kitchen table where she'd left it earlier. She had one missed phone call, a voice mail, and a text from David asking her to call him immediately.

She placed her phone back down and returned to preparing dinner. With a little magic, she defrosted the chicken breasts, breaded them with seasoned breadcrumbs and placed them on a tray before putting them in the oven. She peeled and diced the potatoes and when she heard her phone ringing, she wiped her hands on a dishtowel and walked over to the table to pick it up without glancing at the call display.

"Hello?"

_"Regina, it's me. Did you get my message?"_

"I did, David, but I'm making dinner. Whatever it is, can't it wait?"

_"I'm afraid not. Can I come over and talk to you?"_

"About what?"

_"Hook was attacked this afternoon. He barely made it to the hospital alive."_

"I don't see how this concerns me," Regina sighed as she walked over to the stove and turned the burner on to boil the potatoes. "Who attacked him?"

_"That's just the thing. He said it was Emma that attacked him."_

"Impossible. She's been missing," Regina said as her heart started to race hard enough she could hear the blood rushing through her head. "He's just a drunk now, David. Who is to say he wasn't—"

_"That's the thing, Regina. He may be a drunk, but there's security footage. Emma definitely attacked him with intent to kill. Look, can I come over and talk? We—"_

"Yes, of course," Regina said quickly. "Come in the back door. I don't want Henry to know you're here. In fact," she paused as she glanced towards the kitchen door and frowned slightly. "I don't want him to know about this at all."

_"I'll be there in five minutes."_


	2. Chapter 2

Regina stirred the potatoes as the water began to boil and she turned the burner down just as a tentative knock sounded on the back door. She placed the fork on the counter and wiped her hands on the dishtowel as David let himself in and shut the door behind him. He looked distraught as he shucked off his jacket and draped it over the chair closest to the door.

"What's for dinner?"

"Cut the small talk, Charming," Regina snapped. "Tell me what you know."

David ran his hand over the back of his neck and sighed. "The call came in just after one this afternoon. Claudia, the bartender down at the Rabbit Hole called it in. She'd gone to take the trash out and found him bloody and beaten just out the back door. I reviewed the security footage, but it was a little spotty. The camera only caught half of it. I didn't believe what I saw until I went to visit him down at the hospital. He was barely coherent, but he told me it was Emma who had attacked him."

Regina turned to pick up the fork to stir the potatoes, adjusting the burner a little, turning it up a bit higher to bring the water back to a full boil. "What did she do to him, David?"

"Doctor Whale said it looked like he'd been nearly crushed to death. Several broken ribs, collapsed lung, burst spleen. I spoke with him just before he went into surgery. He had other injuries too, but none that are consistent with a weapon."

"She used magic."

"Yes, I believe so," he said quietly. "I also believe she didn't get a chance to finish the job. At the end of the tape, before she disappeared, I heard someone else. Someone must've seen them and they yelled out."

"Someone else?"

David frowned and he walked over to stand next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It was Robin. He saw what happened. I was hoping you might've seen or spoken with him today. I haven't been able to locate him and his men haven't seen him since just before Hook was attacked."

"No," she said tightly. "I haven't seen nor heard from him today."

"I think he might be in danger, Regina. I think that Emma—"

"That Emma will what? Go after him too?" Regina asked as she pushed his hand away from her shoulder angrily. "Honestly, David, do you think she's capable of killing someone all because she attacked Captain Guyliner?"

"She nearly killed him, Regina."

"Nearly, meaning she wasn't _successful_. Hardly the same thing."

"That is not the point and you know it," David argued, the passionate anger showing in his eyes the very same way it did in Emma's when she got angry and defensive. "Why would she go after him? Before this happened, they were together, and I was under the impression that she was happy with him."

"Yet, you never accepted their relationship, did you, Charming? I know you. I know that someone like _him_ would never be good enough for your own daughter. I know a tiny part of you, just a fragment really, is almost relieved that this happened because maybe it just proved to you that Emma truly didn't reciprocate his feelings after all."

"Regina, regardless of how I feel about their relationship, it doesn't change what has happened today. Emma nearly killed a man and she might've been successful in killing the only witness other than the security camera that managed to capture half of it."

Regina clenched her jaw and turned her attention back on the pot of potatoes that were cooking in the boiling water she had to consistently keep at a specific temperature to cook them to perfection in the way that Henry loved the most.

"Regina, don't you understand what I am telling you right now?" David asked as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away from the pot and caused her to drop the fork on to the top of the stove. "Your True Love is at risk right now and if we don't try to do something, Emma is going to kill him!"

"He's not—" Regina gasped as she pulled her hand away from David's tight grip and picked the fork back up. "He is _not_ my True Love, David."

"What? But I thought—"

"You people know nothing," she glowered angrily. "Emma might've hurt Hook, but she didn't kill him. I hardly believe she is going to go after—"

"Hold on," David said as he held up a hand and answered his phone. "What is it? Are you certain? No, no, keep anyone away that tries to get too close to the site at all costs. It is a crime scene. I'll be right there."

"What now?"

"You were wrong, Regina," David said as he rushed to pull on his jacket. "I just got a call. There's been an occurrence out at Hood's camp in the woods."

"An occurrence? What does that—"

"Mass murder. I'll be in touch," David said in a clipped tone before he stormed out of the house and slammed the back door loudly behind him, loud enough to cause Regina to jump and she dropped the fork a second time.

She wasn't in shock because of the call David had received or because Robin Hood and the Merry Men, even his son could all be dead. She was in shock because she didn't want to believe that Emma had been behind it at all.

Regina slipped into autopilot, something that was far too easy to do in times of crisis, in darkness. She finished making dinner and called Henry down as soon as she had made up a plate for him and for herself.

"No vegetables tonight, Mom?"

Regina blinked slowly as she turned to look at her growing teenage son. "Pardon?"

"No vegetables?" He asked again. "Did you run out?"

"I—I—I did, yes," she stammered as she stared down at her plate. "Tomorrow morning will be a healthy vegetable omelette for breakfast. How does that sound?"

Henry scrunched up his face in a way she expected and it put her somewhat at ease just as finishing up with the cooking had done once David had left in a hurry. She reached out for Henry's hand and smiled as she gave it a gentle squeeze.

"If you think about it," she said as she let go of his hand and picked up her knife. "The potatoes are a vegetable, dear. Now eat up," she smiled. "I'll let you have ice cream for dessert if you promise to do the dishes afterwards."

"You got a deal, Mom," Henry grinned before scooping up a heaping forkful of his mashed potatoes. "Wait, what kind of ice cream?"

"Rocky road. Your favourite."

"Awesome."

[X]

Regina lay wide awake for hours that night in her bed without having heard any more news from David since he had left. She had resisted the urge to transport herself to the camp where Robin and his men called home just as she had resisted the urge to call David to find out more about what had actually happened.

By two in the morning and not a second of sleep, Regina gave up and threw back the covers and crawled out of bed. She dressed in rather casual clothes, clothes she would never be caught dead wearing during the day, and clothes that definitely weren't her own but ones that Emma had left behind after she'd used the shower one afternoon after she'd gone for a run and left the sweaty workout clothes on the floor of her bathroom. She'd washed them and had fully intended to return them, but Emma had seemingly forgotten about that particular incident and Regina failed to give them back.

Besides, the plain gray t-shirt, even after a few washes, still faintly smelled like Emma and in a strange way, it was almost comforting. The sweatpants were a shade darker and snug, but they were comfortable nonetheless. She slipped on a pair of running shoes that usually stayed hidden in the deep recesses of her closet and checked in on Henry before she quickly left the house as quietly as she could manage.

Transporting herself would've been faster, but the fairies at the convent were currently monitoring any and all traces of magic, and she just couldn't risk exposing herself, especially not at the scene of a crime, as David had called it before.

The drive out to the woods gave her time to think, as if she hadn't already had plenty of that in the last six hours she'd been trying and failing to sleep. She parked almost half a mile from where she knew the camp was and walked the rest of the way in the dark, careful not to trip over any obstructions along one of the many narrow paths that the Merry Men had carved out in the mere months they'd been in Storybrooke.

"Here I thought I'd come to you next because you summoned me."

Regina stopped dead in her tracks and spun around to face Emma who was standing less than a foot away from her. "What are you doing here?"

"I'd ask you the same thing, but we both know why you're here, don't we?"

"And why is that, Swan?" Regina asked, tilting her head to the side to get a better look at her under the cloak of darkness and the faintest of light from the full moon that shone through the canopy of trees that surrounded them. "Did you do it?"

"Did I do what?" Emma asked, sounding like nothing more than some innocent child who had their hand stuff in the cookie jar and had been caught red-handed. "What do you _think_ , Regina? Hmm?"

"How many is it now, hmm? Aside from the one I know about already. Cruella."

"I saved _our_ son from her!"

Regina trembled because standing before her was the Emma she knew, not the person she had become in the last handful of weeks. She couldn't show any sign or form of weakness, not when the darkness inside of Emma was so clearly controlling her.

"Those are mine," Emma muttered as she waved at her clothes that Regina was wearing. "Were you ever going to give them back?"

"How many people did you kill, Emma?"

"Not enough," she said with a smirk, her mood once again flipping on a switch. "I was just having _fun_ , Regina. You do remember how fun it was to be so in control of whether someone lived or died, don't you? Don't you remember how intoxicating it felt to have the last thread of their lives literally between your fingers and it was only you who decided if they lived or died? Or have you forgotten? Have you forgotten just how good darkness truly tastes, hmm?"

"I haven't," Regina replied tightly. "Not a day goes by that I try to forget that part of my life. We all have our regrets, Emma. It's not too late for you. You can still—"

Emma shushed her and began counting off silently on her fingers, each one flipping up until she stared over again. "Sixteen," she said slowly. "Sixteen lives. Each one felt better than the last. Each one, feeling the last beat of their pathetic and weak heart, hearing their last breath, it made me feel like—"

"Like you are invincible. Powerful. Like you are some kind of a God who has a say in who lives and who dies?"

"To be honest, I'm mostly interested in the death part of things really," Emma shrugged nonchalantly. "Come on, Regina, don't you remember how that felt or did you finally let your guilt take control over you? I thought you were _stronger_ than that, hmm?"

Regina knew better than to feed Emma with more triggers that would inevitably set the both off in the end. She turned on her heels and continued down the path, cursing at herself for not having felt Emma before she saw her just as she had before when Emma turned up in her study at the house after weeks of being nowhere to be found.

Even in the darkness, her eyes caught sight of the yellow police tape that marked off the entire camp, but nothing, not even in the days where she slaughtered entire villages could've prepared her for the sight before her very eyes.

Not even at her worst had she conducted anything half as bad as what she saw before her. Bodies—parts of bodies strewn over the camp, blood everywhere, tents ripped to shreds, decapitated heads lying in the dirt, eyes still wide open in shock and fear. Her hands trembled as she covered her mouth to conceal the scream that was still silent. She jumped when she felt Emma near her again and turned to her, eyes wide in shock.

"It is all almost like art, isn't it, Regina?" Emma purred and she tore the police tape and stepped forward. "Killian should've died, but I was so very rudely interrupted before I could finish. I _hate_ being interrupted."

Regina gulped hard as Emma backed up slowly, the pointed heels of her boots digging into the blood-soaked earth. Regina took a step forward, stopping just beyond the ripped yellow police tape that had fallen to the ground. She knew the woman standing before her was drunk on power, drunk on the darkness that had consumed her. She also knew—and hoped—that it wasn't too late for her, that the blackness had yet to fully penetrate her heart. It would be marred, a streak or two, maybe several, but it took a thousand souls more to strip the heart of any and all humanity and love that resided deep within it.

Emma chuckled as she stopped her backwards descent and began to walk back towards her. Even in the darkness and the slight moonlight that shone through the thick canopy of trees, Regina could still see how beautiful she was, how broken her soul was, how heavy her heart felt, how consumed of the Dark One's spirit that was stealing her own, piece by shattered piece.

Regina kept her resolve, kept her distance even as hard as it was with the way Emma was stalking towards her. She glanced down at the ground behind her, her stomach lurching as she almost tripped over a severed arm. Emma chuckled lowly as she continued to stalk towards her and Regina suddenly found herself up against a wide tree, trapped between it and Emma who was now mere inches in front of her.

"I didn't kill his boy," Emma muttered quietly. "The kid is innocent. Can't help who his father is, can he?"

"Where is he?"

"Somewhere safe," she shrugged. "Good old Granny is looking after the boy I imagine. I left him on her doorstep. You know she wouldn't turn a child away."

It didn't make Regina feel any better about the scene of nothing but destruction and death all around them. It was one thing to kill, another to rip apart someone like a wild animal. And that was exactly what Emma was now, a wild animal and out of control.

"Here I thought you'd be a little more…upset, angry even," Emma drawled and a sadistic smirk curled over her red lips. "He was the last one. I made him watch _everything_. Aren't you upset that I killed your lover, Regina?"

Regina clenched her jaw, not wanting to feed into Emma's game any more. She was upset, but not for reasons Emma thought she was. Regina's head was throbbing and her legs felt weak, too week to turn and run or to even use magic just to get away from Emma before she ended up ripped up and shredded, scattered all along the forest floor.

"Emma…"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"Didn't you hear what I said before? It's fun, Regina."

Regina shook her head and pressed her back harder up against the tree. Emma chuckled as she took one more step forward until their bodies were almost touching and she placed both her hands on the tree on either side of Regina's head. Regina quickly turned her head just as Emma leaned in to kiss her, but Emma was quick to grab on to her chin and forced her to look at her, pressing a hard kiss to her lips and definitely not the one she'd wanted to receive.

"I'll be seeing you, Regina," she purred, chuckling as she let go of Regina's chin and took a step back. "Soon."

Regina gasped as Emma disappeared and she moved quickly, nearly tripping over the ripped yellow police tape before she took off in a run to where she'd parked her car. She stopped as her stomach lurched and she grasped onto the side of a tree, loosing the contents of her stomach on the forest floor. She felt dizzy as she wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand and walked the last few feet to her car.

She sat there for the longest time, trying to wipe the images of the massacre at Hood's camp and the wild, dangerous way that Emma was acting. She needed to do _something_ because she knew if she didn't, Emma wouldn't be able to stop herself from killing anyone else. She knew that once the darkness wasn't in control, that Emma would be absolutely devastated of the lives she'd taken without reason. It would severely break her already fragile soul and blacken her once pure heart completely.

There was nobody else in the entire town that could help Emma and it was down to her and her alone to figure out a way to stop her before she killed anyone else. How she was going to do that, she wasn't entirely sure, but she knew one thing for certain and that was the fact that she couldn't have anyone else finding out she had Emma under her control for as long as it took for her to figure out how to get the woman she loved back.

Regina drove to the cemetery and parked just outside her vault. She knew she should've gone home, but she had a few hours yet before Henry would wake up and she had an agenda to fill in the time before the sun would eventually rise over the horizon.

One option she knew she had was the cuff that could strip Emma from her magic, but that itself posed a problem because there was only one left in existence and it was currently on her half-sister's wrist and she was locked up in the asylum in the hospital basement. Removing it from Zelena would pose another risk she wasn't willing to take. She had to find another way to subdue Emma's new and old magic however she could.

The dagger wasn't an option. Unlike in the past, Emma wasn't controlled by it at all, and if she was, it was minuscule control and not enough to keep her from allowing herself to succumb to the Dark One inside of her. Still, Regina knew that the Dark One's soul and the dagger were still connected and she couldn't allow for the dagger to fall into the wrong hands either.

It was one of very few times she wished that Gold was awake and well so he could guide her in the right direction, so he could help her figure out how to stop Emma from essentially destroying herself. Almost all of Gold's magical items were now in her possession and in her vault since Belle didn't want any of them around the shop with Gold in a coma and no way to protect herself if any thieves came around to acquire the items for themselves. Those items were in a room of its own in her vault and she went straight in that room and found what she was looking for after a quick search.

Regina wasn't certain as to why Gold had the very enchantment that had once imprisoned him in the Enchanted Forest, but she knew the man always tried to gain further knowledge if only for his own advantage. The enchantment itself contained a small vial of fairy dust that she was certain nobody knew he'd had in his possession all that time and a scroll with the spell itself, used to contain unstable users of magic within four walls. She opened the scroll and realized that it was only slightly different than the one Snow and David had used many years ago. It prevented the one under the enchantment from leaving the designated space, but didn't prevent others from entering or leaving.

Regina pocketed the vial and the scroll before retrieving the dagger from its spot. She ran her fingers over Emma's name that was engraved on the blade and shivered at the thought of how it had been so close to possible that her own name could've been there instead if Emma hadn't sacrificed herself to save her.

Her hands shook as she wrapped the dagger in a scrap piece of worn leather. Her hands were still shaking as she enacted a protection spell around her vault as she was leaving and it was one she hoped was strong enough to keep the Dark One out at all costs.

It was still dark outside, but the beginnings of dawn could be seen all around. She didn't have time to make another stop and decided to head home instead to be there when Henry woke up. Her exhaustion was already taking its toll, but she did her best to shrug it off once she was home. She hid the vial, the scroll and the dagger in the safe box in her bedroom closet, enacting a protection spell around not just the safe box, but also the closet itself. It was almost six and Henry wouldn't be up for another hour and once she was satisfied no one but herself could access her closet, she headed for the bathroom to shower and get ready for yet another impossibly long day.

"Morning, Henry," Regina said with a smile that was forced, yet it went unnoticed as Henry grumbled as he stumbled into the kitchen still half asleep. "Would you like me to make you some breakfast?"

"I'm good with some cereal, Mom," he said tiredly and he grabbed the box out of the cupboard before he yawned and looked over at her. "You're going to work today?"

"Yes, I have a council meeting this afternoon and paperwork to prepare beforehand. You are going to go to school and stay there until the bell this afternoon. I am going to call the office to make sure you are not skipping classes again, do you understand, Henry?"

"Yeah, Mom. Don't worry. No skipping today," Henry muttered. "Mom?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Is it true?" Henry asked and Regina furrowed her brow. "I saw the news last night."

"Henry—"

"Did _she_ do that to Hood's camp?" He asked with a frown, tears filling his eyes that he quickly tried to wipe away. "Did she do it, Mom?"

"Henry—"

"Please don't lie to me," he said shakily. "Please just tell me the truth. Did she kill those people, Mom?"

Regina sighed sadly, her own tears filling her eyes as she reached out to hug her teenaged son. There was no way to comfort him when he knew his other mother had willingly killed others even if it was under the influence of the Dark One's essence inside her soul. She rubbed over Henry's back, soothing him as he cried into her shoulder, his hot tears soaking her blouse and her neck.

She leaned back and cupped his face in her hands and wiped at his tears with her thumbs. There was nothing she could say to make things right, to make everything okay again, but there was a way to stop Emma from going on another massacre and adding more bodies to the final count. She just had to figure out where she could keep Emma and then she would have to figure out to lure her there without her suspecting a thing.

With a kiss placed on his forehead, she stepped back and wiped at her own tears that had fallen. Henry reached out and squeezed her shoulders with a wavering smile curling over his lips slowly.

"You'll find her, Mom, and you'll help her fight this. I know you will."

"I hope so, Henry."

"She saved you and now it's your turn to save her," he said, his wavering smile becoming wider. "You've got this. I believe in you."

"Thank you, Henry," Regina smiled back at him before pulling him in for another hug, one that was brief as she glanced at the clock on the microwave. "Now come on, finish up your breakfast and go shower. I'll drop you off at school."

[X]

Regina had been in her office for no less than half an hour before Charming treated her to a surprise visit. Regina removed her reading glasses when she heard him just outside the door and quickly placed them under a stack of papers on her desk. Nobody ever saw her wear her reading glasses, not even Henry. She cleared her throat as he entered her office and she knew from the hard look on his face that he didn't come bearing any good news. She motioned for him to take a seat on the sofa and she grabbed her mug of coffee, joining him a moment later.

"There is a fresh pot of coffee just outside," Regina said. "Why don't you help yourself to a cup, Sheriff? You look like you need it."

"I'm fine," he said and he ran a hand over his hair. "I'm sure you realize that this isn't a social call, Regina."

"Of course it isn't."

"I've just come from the hospital. I was called there just before five this morning. Hook is dead. Throat sliced while he slept in his bed. Two nurses who were on duty were slaughtered. I—I reviewed the security tapes."

"Emma."

"Yes," he frowned. "I'm afraid she's not finished and I—I have no idea who she'll go after next. Gold's room, the ward held her off. The tapes shut off halfway through her attempt in gaining access to his room. They're blank all over the hospital for a good ten minutes before there is picture again."

"Was there anyone else?"

"No, I put a team together and we swept the entire hospital. There were no other injuries or deaths caused by her."

"And Zelena? Did you—"

"Zelena told me that Emma had been down there briefly, but thankfully she couldn't gain access to her cell. Regina, there has to be something we can do to stop her from killing anyone else," David said and he had an almost desperate look in his eyes. "There has to be something we can do."

"I'm still trying to figure something out, I assure you. It is not going to be an easy feat of capturing her and holding her prisoner. There are many mysteries surrounding the Dark One itself and I'm afraid I haven't been able to uncover any information in any of Gold's belongings that can help her."

"If anyone can figure this out, it's you, Regina."

"You're putting an awful lot of faith in me with this, Charming."

"You're strong enough, powerful enough to stand up to her, to save her," he said and he offered a small smile. "I believe in you because I know you care for her."

"Of course I care for her. She's Henry's other mother and we're friends—"

"Friends, of course," he chuckled quietly. "When are you going to stop calling what you two have a friendship?"

"What else am I supposed to call it?" Regina asked, feeling a slight blush creep up to her cheeks. "What we have is a friendship and a partnership when it comes to raising our son together. If you are implying that there is anything more, you are sorely mistaken."

"How long have you known?"

"How long have I know about what?"

"That you're in love with her?" David asked quietly and Regina scoffed as she jumped up from the sofa and nearly spilled her coffee all over herself. "Regina—"

"Are we quite done here, Sheriff? I have work to get done this morning and I know you have more important things to do than to turn this visit into a social call."

"Regina—"

"If there are any further incidents, please inform me at once. Close the door behind you on your way out, Sheriff."

David nodded and stood up from the sofa. Regina didn't watch him leave, she just walked back over to her desk and sipped her coffee before sitting back down in her chair just as the door shut soundly behind the sheriff. She was trembling and when she spilt some of her coffee on her council meeting notes, she roared in anger and frustration, throwing her mug across the room and it hit the door and shattered.

Regina grabbed her papers and stuffed them inside her briefcase she only took with her to council meetings and she stopped when a single Polaroid picture slipped from her desk and on to the floor. She bent down with a flustered huff and picked it up. She turned it over and gasped, the Polaroid nearly slipping from her fingers.

While the picture was quite dark, she recognized immediately that it was Henry's room. Her hands shook as she reached for her glasses and slipped them on and held the picture closer to her. In the bed Henry was sleeping and she could just faintly make out his well-worn Marvel t-shirt he'd been wearing earlier that morning when he came downstairs for breakfast.

She had no idea when the picture had appeared in her office, but it was clear that Emma had been the one who had taken it. She didn't know what kind of a sick game that Emma was playing, but she did know that even as the Dark One, she would _never_ hurt Henry. She swallowed past the growing lump in her throat as she slid the Polaroid into her blazer pocket and slammed her small briefcase shut.

By the time she made it down to the town hall to further prepare for the council meeting, she could feel a migraine beginning to form. She settled down at the main table and in her usual chair while the rest of the council began to arrive. She pitched at the bridge of her nose as the noise level steadily rose and she felt that small, steady pulse of magic that she would recognize anywhere. Her eyes darted around the room, but she couldn't see _her_ anywhere, yet she felt her with every ounce of her being.

"Madam Mayor, shall we start?" One of the councilmen asked as everyone else took their seats. Regina nodded and cleared her throat, her vision swimming as she picked up her notes. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, I—I just need a moment. Would you care to start, Mr.—"

"Humphries," he replied and when she sat down heavily in her chair he rose to his feet and addressed the council in a booming voice that only caused Regina's migraine to worsen immensely.

After an hour into the meeting, Regina could still feel that steady pulse of magic nearby and she called for a short, fifteen minute break and left the room, immediately heading up the stairs and into her office. She stopped short of her office door because the pulse of magic grew astonishingly and her hand hovered over the doorknob for a brief moment before she pushed it open.

A small sense of relief flooded through her when she saw Emma pacing in front of her desk. Emma barely looked over at her as she shut the door behind her, making sure to lock it in case anyone had decided to follow her up there. She took a deep breath and smoothed her hands down the front of her blazer before tentatively taking a step towards Emma, watching carefully as she paced in even steps one way before turning to pace in odd steps the other way.

"Emma."

"Why does it hurt so much?" Emma asked, suddenly stopping dead in her tracks as she turned to look at Regina. Her hair, which had been pulled back into a tight bun the last two times she'd seen her was now a mess with tendrils of hair falling down into her face.

"What hurts?" Regina asked. "Emma?"

"It _burns_ ," she groaned as she grasped at the front of her black leather jacket and she tore it open with a low growl. "Everything inside of me is burning, Regina. It fucking _hurts_. I can't make it stop. I can't make it stop. Make it stop, please. I need you to make it stop."

Regina frowned, wanting to reach out for her, but she could feel how unstable Emma's magic was in that moment. "What hurts, Emma?" She tried again. "Tell me."

"I can feel it _crawling_ inside of me."

"The Dark One's essence?"

"Yes," she cried out painfully as she fell to her knees. "It hurts more than it did before. In the beginning. After I—I—Regina, please, I need you to make it stop! Get it out of me!"

"I don't know how, Emma."

"Please."

Regina trembled as she closed the distance between them and knelt down in front of her. The pulse of magic flowing out of Emma was so strong, so intoxicating that it sent her own magic stirring excitably beneath her skin. When she reached out for Emma, Emma grabbed a hold of her arms, her nails digging in painfully. Her eyes were darker and filled with tears, the pain all too evident.

"Please, help me."

"I don't know how."

"Please…"

Regina pulled Emma up to her feet and wrapped her arms around her tightly without taking a second to think about what she was doing and she magicked them to the house, more specifically to the third floor that was practically empty and unused. She sat Emma down on one of the old sofa's that was covered in a sheet and gently brushed aside a few strands of her hair.

"Can you stay here just for a moment?" Regina asked her. "I will be right back. If you want me to help you, you need to stay right here until I get back. Do you understand?"

Emma nodded as the tears streamed down her cheeks and Regina transported herself to her bedroom, removing the barrier spell on her closet and the safe to retrieve the enchantment to confine Emma within the third floor. It wasn't part of her plan and she hadn't thought of the details, but desperate times called for desperate measures.


	3. Chapter 3

Emma was passed out cold by the time she returned up to the attic. It made enacting the enchantment easier without being watched. When she saw the glimmer shine over the walls, the floors and the ceiling, she pocketed the scroll and stepped past the barrier, passing through with ease. The only thing she felt was the strength of the spell when she had stepped past. She knelt beside the old covered sofa where Emma laid and placed a hand gently over hers.

"Emma?" Regina said quietly. "Emma, wake up."

"Hmm?"

"I am going to try to help you," she said and Emma blinked her eyes open. "In order to help you, you need to stay here."

"I won't leave."

"You can't," Regina said as she pulled her hand back and moved to sit on the wooden coffee table that was covered with a drop sheet as well. "I've put an enchantment on the entire attic. I can come and go as I please, but unfortunately you cannot."

"Guess it beats Rumple's old cell in the Enchanted Forest," Emma groaned quietly before she sat up slowly and ran her hands over her hair. "Regina…I kept trying to come back, but I couldn't."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not always in control," she said as she lowered her eyes to her hands as she folded them in her lap. "I haven't been in control much, not since that night. When I am in control, the pain it—it is incredibly unbearable. It started happening again and I fought to hold on to this. I'm still—god, Regina, it hurts so much."

Regina just watched her as a flood of emotions flickered through her tearful eyes, eyes that didn't have that spark of life in them as she remembered, eyes that were darker with tiny flecks of gold mixed in with green. She wanted to become lost just staring into Emma's eyes, but now was not the time to let her deepest feelings for the woman surface. Now was not the time to do anything but do all she could to help her.

Emma truly had nothing left to lose. Her soul, the light inside of her, it was fighting the darkness and it wasn't until then that she realized that is exactly what she was going through. Her light magic, magic created by True Love, was fighting the Dark One's essence and for the time being it was winning that fight. There was no telling how long it would last until the darkness won once again, and there was no telling how long it'd take for the light inside of her to find the strength, the power, to fight again.

She ignored the faint ringing of the phone downstairs as she stood up and pulled the drop cloth off of the coffee table, taking her time in folding in under Emma's intense gaze. She placed it down on the coffee table and walked into the kitchenette, trailing a finger across the counter and only finding a minuscule amount of dust.

"Regina?"

"Yes?"

"Are we in your house?" Emma asked, blinking in confusion as she stood up from the sofa. Regina just nodded and checked to make sure the small fridge was still working before shutting the door. "I've never been up here before."

"No, of course you haven't. It's remained unused for as long as I have been here."

Regina watched as Emma pulled off her jacket and tossed it onto the sofa before moving to pull her hair free of her bun. It cascaded in waves as she ran her fingers through her hair, almost white compared to the usual blonde she sported, but still nonetheless as beautiful as always. She continued to watch as Emma wiped at the blood red lipstick on her lips with the back of her hand and she watched as Emma's tears fell momentarily before she furiously wiped them away before turning her back to her.

"I killed them," Emma whispered so faintly Regina barely heard her. "I killed all those people. I—I'm a monster."

"Emma—"

"I didn't want to, Regina," she said tearfully, keeping her back to her. "I didn't want to do those things. I tried to fight. I tried so hard, but I couldn't stop myself from killing them."

"It wasn't you," Regina said, unmoving from where she stood in the kitchenette. "It wasn't you who did that, Emma."

"It was!" She yelled and she spun around, her otherwise pale face now flushed red in anger as tears streamed down her cheeks. "It _was_ me, Regina! I killed them!"

Regina stayed back when she felt the sparks of Emma's magic fill the room. She kept her distance, not trusting her own magic to resist the pull that came from Emma's and because she didn't entirely trust Emma in her overly emotional state either. Right now she was Emma Swan, fighting the darkness inside of her, but she had seen the other side of her, the one the Dark One commandeered, and that side of her could come back at any given moment.

No magic was truly strong enough to fight darkness as black as that of the Dark One's essence. A true evil with no remorse, no love, and no emotions.

Regina recalled reading through Gold's diary he'd kept in his early days and while most of it was nothing but the ramblings of a madman, it helped her to understand a little more of how the Dark One consumed one's soul, piece by shattered piece. She knew Gold had fought to keep a hold of a sliver of his humanity, his own soul, and all through the strength of the love he had for his son. She could only hope that Emma had that same power, that same deep love for Henry that would keep her fighting against the darkness that threatened to consume her completely.

As the Dark One, she had nothing left to lose, but as Emma Swan, she had everything to lose, and Regina was going to help her in any way that she could even if she didn't know how to yet.

The first step had been taken care of and Emma was confined within the third floor of her house, but when it came to the second step, Regina wasn't certain how to proceed. She was close to the stairs where she could get out quickly if Emma gave in to the darkness crawling and burning inside of her. She could see her fighting, but she was giving up, either by choice or because she didn't have the strength to fight any longer.

"I'll see to it that you have some food and a change of clothes," Regina said as she slowly made her way to the stop of the stairs. "Any special requests?"

"Anything is fine," Emma said lowly. "Whatever."

"I promise you that I am going to help you, Emma, but I don't know how to do that or how long it is even going to take. Gold is in a coma and—and I don't know who else to turn to right now," she sighed and she slid her hand inside her blazer pocket and curled her fingers around the Polaroid of Henry. "There is a bathroom just over there and the bedroom is next to it. I'll bring up some fresh sheets and towels later for you. In the meantime, I have things I need to do. I left the council meeting because you showed up in my office."

"You're going back?" Emma asked. "You're leaving me here?"

"Yes."

"Regina—"

"I am not telling anyone that you are here, not until I can figure out how to help you," she continued and she curled her fingers tighter around the Polaroid in her pocket. "You've taken many lives, Emma, all within the past few days. You've been gone for _weeks_ and only now you decided to reappear. Why is that?"

"I tried to keep away, but I also tried to come back too," she said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I—I don't know where I was, but coming back here wasn't easy. Where I was…it was dark. Empty. Lonely. I don't remember much, but it didn't feel like weeks, Regina. It only felt like a few hours had passed."

Regina clenched her jaw tightly, wanting to know more about what she had gone through, but she wasn't sure she was ready to hear more just yet. The phone downstairs started ringing again and she took her hand out of her pocket, pulling the Polaroid with it.

"I don't know what this means," she said and moved to place it on the small wooden table in the kitchenette. "But I know that you would never hurt Henry."

"Never."

"Whatever game you're playing, Emma, it ends now."

Emma's lips curled into a snarl and she sprinted towards Regina quickly. Regina stepped down the first step and Emma hit the barrier hard. "I'll get out of here, you bitch. I'll figure it out. You can't keep me in here forever!"

Regina stood firm, her face expressionless as she watched Emma try to use magic, but no matter what she did, it was stopped by the enchantment. Inside, her heart was screaming and she wanted to cry, but she couldn't show her weakness, not in front of the Dark One. She took a step backwards, descending down the stairs one by one as Emma roared furiously and charged at the barrier once more.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she could still hear Emma and with a wave of her hands, she enacted a soundproof spell on the third floor and the house fell into silence until the phone began to ring for a third time. She headed down the stairs and ignored the phone, heading into the kitchen instead to prepare a snack for Henry to have when he got home from school. Once she was done, she transported herself back to her office in the town hall, her migraine coming back in full force.

A knock on her locked door startled her and she quickly walked over and unlocked it, opening it to find two of the council members standing on the other side. With a forced smile, she walked out of her office and shut the door behind her.

"I apologize for the delay," she said as she strolled out of the outer office and towards the stairs, pausing to look back at the two council members who were following her. "I have a slight migraine. I needed the quiet during the break. Did I lose track of time?"

"No, Madam Mayor, not much. It's only been twenty minutes. Should we adjourn for the day? We can continue on Monday morning," the man asked and Regina shook her head no and headed down the stairs quickly.

"We'll finish up with the meeting now, sir. It has already been delayed one too many times and the town needs us to come up with a plan for sufficient road repairs to the main roads before the winter months come."

"Ma'am, no disrespect, but we've been talking throughout the break," the woman said just as they reached the landing and came to a stop. "Everyone wants to talk about what happened yesterday."

"Everyone in town is in danger as long as the Dark One is free," the man said nervously. "She—she slaughtered the entire Merry Men camp! Who is to say she won't come after me or my family next?"

"And who are you exactly?" Regina asked and the man just stammered awkwardly. "No disrespect, but I hardly think she'd attack without intent. You and your family are safe."

"But for how long?"

"Sir, let's continue with the council meeting with the others. If you have any concerns, you can raise them after we've discussed the issues at hand."

By the time she made it back down into the hall, it was buzzing with angry council members, each and every one of them talking about Emma and what she'd done. It was easy to point fingers since everyone in the entire town knew what happened that night. It was easy to place the blame on the new Dark One, because really, who else was capable of doing such a thing?

The remainder of the meeting didn't go smoothly and after a few very tense arguments made between the council members and Regina, she adjourned the meeting indefinitely and returned to her office without another word. She found the bottle of aspirin in her desk and swallowed three dry.

She sat down at her desk and thought back to the moment just after Emma had called herself a monster. She knew then, just from the way she saw Emma fighting the smirk that almost slipped when she called herself a monster that she was being played by the Dark One. Emma had been there and in control, but not the entire time. It had been Emma who appeared in her office and it had been Emma when she took her to the house. She still wasn't sure if it still had only been just Emma after she enacted the enchantment around the third floor, but there was a high chance that she was, even if just for the minutes that followed.

Her confirmation that she was speaking to the Dark One happened only in the moment she had placed the Polaroid on the table. She had never seen such anger in Emma's eyes before, anger filled with such darkness, and it had scared her as well as broke her heart at the same time. In the weeks since that night Emma sacrificed herself, she had thought about all the ways it would affect her, not just with her appearance, but within herself too, but nothing prepared her for what she had already seen.

Regina went to lie down on her sofa, wanting to wait until the town hall cleared out for the day before she left. She wasn't in the mood to be confronted about Emma Swan again. She was the only one left in that town with enough power to overcome the Dark One. The fairies at the convent were powerful, but to fight darkness, one needed dark magic inside of them and even Blue, despite some of her past shady dealings, didn't have quite enough of it inside of her to fight against the Dark One.

It was almost five before she finally left to head home. Her head was still pounding, but not nearly as bad as it had been before and when she arrived home she immediately went up to Henry's room and found him laying on his bed with a math textbook open in his lap and his headphones in, the music from his iPod blaring loudly. Regina picked up a few clothes he'd left on the floor and picked up his Marvel t-shirt. She clutched it for a moment, remembering the Polaroid and she tossed it into the hamper before walking towards the window closest to his bed.

"Mom, what are you doing?"

"Nothing," she sighed softly. "Henry, I want you to clean your room."

"Right now?" Henry asked as he closed his math textbook. "Seriously?"

"Yes. You do that while I prepare dinner."

"What are we having?"

"I don't know yet," she sighed again. "Just clean your room, Henry. I'll call you down when dinner is ready."

"Mom?" Henry called out when she reached the doorway. "Thanks for making me a snack today," he smiled. "It was good."

"You're quite welcome," she smiled back at him, one that didn't last long. "I want you room spotless, Henry. I will check under your bed and in your closet when you're done and bring those dirty dishes down to the kitchen, please."

"Okay, Mom."

Regina walked down the hall and stopped at the doorway that led to the third floor stairs. With a quick snap of her fingers the key to the door appeared in the palm of her right hand and she locked it before pocketing the key and headed downstairs to prepare dinner for herself and Henry. She settled on making something simple, spaghetti and meatballs with a garden salad on the side with plenty of fresh vegetables she conjured from her garden out in the backyard. She made a little extra and put it in a container she planned to bring up later for Emma before she called Henry down for dinner.

He carried the few glasses and plates he'd had in his room and put them in the dishwasher before joining her in the dining room for dinner. Neither of them spoke much at all until Henry asked her if he could go visit his grandparents the next morning. Regina, unlike most time, wasn't hesitant when she told him he could. With Henry out of the house, it'd be easier for her to visit with Emma for a short while without raising any suspicions with him.

Regina retreated to the study when Henry offered to clean up after dinner and despite the migraine that was still making her skull throb, she poured herself a glass of cider and glanced at the whisky tumbler that still sat on top of her desk. She frowned as she ran her fingers over the spot that Emma had been perched on and grabbed the tumbler, putting it back in its place before downing her glass of cider in one gulp.

She still didn't know what she was going to do to help Emma, but at least now the town was safe from the Dark One, and that put her mind at ease, if only just a little. She poured herself another glass of cider and was about to take a sip when the doorbell rang. With an irritated huff, she placed the glass down beside the tumbler and walked out into the foyer and down to the front door.

"Sheriff, what can I do for you?" Regina asked when she found none other than David standing on her front porch. "I was just having a drink, would you like to join me?"

"I could use a drink," he said quietly and he followed her inside the house. "Regina, I'm worried about Emma. After the things I saw, I—I can't imagine her doing those things, killing them like that. I thought maybe she would stop with Hook, but she didn't. I keep trying to figure out why she went after Robin and his men. I can't find a reason that makes a shred of sense."

"The Dark One is in control of her right now, David, it's not _her_ that killed those people. What she feels right now is immense anger and power. When Gold was the Dark One, he had hundreds of years to control the essence, to control the craving that made him want to kill," Regina said and she poured David a glass of cider once inside the study and she picked up her own. "The Dark One doesn't need a reason to kill."

"I'm just trying to understand what she's going through."

"I know."

"Snow, she—she's beyond herself right now. She wanted to know how bad it was at the camp, but I can't tell her the full truth."

"News got out about it anyway, David. I was certain you would've tried to keep this quiet for as long as possible, but the whole damn town knows what she did out in the woods."

"Does Henry know?"

"Yes, because it was on the news last night," Regina sighed and the two of them took a seat on the sofa by the fireplace. "People are terrified right now because they think she is going to come after them and their families next."

"Is she?"

Regina swallowed hard, knowing if she said no, she wouldn't be able to keep up with the secret of her having Emma trapped in her attic, bound with the very same enchantment that kept Rumpelstiltskin locked up in their castle many years before. She covered up her silence by taking a sip of her cider.

"I don't _know_ , David."

"Why do you think she went after Robin and his men?" David asked and Regina felt the lump rise in her throat and she sipped her cider. "Do you think one of them might have seen what she was doing to Hook behind the Rabbit Hole?"

"I don't know!" Regina snapped. "Why do you automatically assume I have the answers, Charming? I know as much as you do, perhaps even less. Why don't you do your job and find out yourself, hmm?"

"I've done all that I can, Regina. I came to you hoping that maybe you could see more than what I can," he said quietly. "Emma, she used a dream catcher before when Archie was thought to have been murdered. I thought that maybe you could—"

"Use one to see for myself exactly what she did?" Regina asked bitterly. "Whatever logic or reason that was behind those murders, it is something only she knows. It doesn't truly matter now, does it? We know who did it and we can't bring those who died back to life."

David looked distraught and she knew he had every reason to be. His daughter had become the Dark One, and not only that, she'd killed almost twenty people in the last two days for absolutely no reason other than because she _could_. Regina downed the last of her cider and rose from the sofa slowly.

"Regina, I need you to find her," David pleaded. "You need to find her and stop her before she kills anyone else."

"David—"

"Please, Regina," he begged as the tears began to fall. "When we find a way to fix this, when this is all over, all the lives she's taken is going to haunt her forever. It's going to destroy her!"

"What do you propose we do when the time comes?" Regina asked tightly. "Give her some kind of a potion that'll make her forget all the things she's done as the Dark One?"

"Is that possible?"

"Of course it's possible, but there's no guarantee she'll let us—"

"We'll make her take that potion and once she does, she'll forget everything she's done and she'll forget that we forced her to—"

"Are you even listening to yourself right now?" Regina asked incredulously. "Snow sent you here, didn't she?"

"Yes, but—"

"No," Regina cut him off. "Look, I don't know how else to convince you that I am trying to help your daughter in every way that I can right now. There is only so much I can do. The dagger doesn't work and I don't know why, but I will find a way to find the answers I need so I can help her. Save her. I don't need you two idiots trying to help me either."

Her hands were shaking while she poured herself a third glass of cider, knowing that perhaps it wasn't the best of ideas because she could already feel a slight buzz kicking in. Keeping this from Henry was going to be hard enough as it was, but keeping it from the Charming's would prove to be impossible.

"What can we do, Regina?"

"Look out for one another," Regina replied quietly and she barely flinched when she felt David's hand fall onto her shoulder. "Look after your child. I know you are worried about her, David. We all are. I am going to fix this. I promise you, I am going to do whatever I can to fix this, to save her."

"I know you will."

"I don't need you coming around every day asking if I've found her," she continued, finding it impossible to look over at him because she knew her emotions would give her away even if he didn't quite catch on at first. "I have been looking for her for weeks and I have been trying to find a way to pull the Dark One out of her without _killing_ her for weeks. I am no closer to finding out how than I was when I started, but that does not mean that I am giving up. I will never give up on her."

"I know," David whispered, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Regina?" He paused as she turned to look at him. "I never told her, Snow I mean, what we talked about last night. It's okay that you are, you know, in love with her. It's hard not to fall in love with someone like Emma."

"David—"

"It's okay, Regina. I'm not saying I'm giving you the okay if you want to… _date_ my daughter after all of this is over, but I'm saying that it's okay if you feel that way for her."

"I don't need your approval for feelings that I harbour and choose to keep to myself, Charming. I _care_ for your daughter and yes, I love her, but I'm not in love with her. There is a very stark contrast in loving someone and being in love with them. I don't know where you are getting this ridiculous idea from, but you need to forget you even thought of such nonsense."

David's lips twitched before he nodded his head. He didn't believe her and she knew he had every right not to. She hadn't sounded convinced when she said those words and she knew the pain of lying about how she felt had been so obvious and clear in her tear-filled eyes in that very moment. David gave her one last squeeze before he downed the last of his cider and placed the glass on the table.

"Will you call? If you find her or get any leads?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

"I trust you'll do the same," Regina said as she followed him out of the study and towards the front door. "I don't want you doing anything idiotic like trying to go after her yourself. She could _kill_ you."

"I know. I won't."

They were quiet until they reached the front door and Regina opened it for him. "Henry would like to come over tomorrow morning to visit. Would that be all right?" She asked and David just smiled and nodded. "I'll drop him over at your place around ten?"

"That's fine. Snow will be happy to have him for a visit and Neal, he adores Henry."

"Of course he does," Regina chuckled. "Have a good night, Charming."

"You as well."

Regina shut the door once he was halfway down the front walkway and she headed into the kitchen and grabbed the container she'd made up when she'd finished preparing dinner. She grabbed a fork and a bottle of water before ascending up the stairs. She paused as she stood just outside the doorway to the third floor and she could hear Henry in his room and the sound of music playing just over the unmistakable sounds of the video game he liked to play in the evenings before bed.

She unlocked the door and made sure to lock it behind her before climbing up the narrow steps to the third floor. It was dark save for the lone candle that burned on the coffee table and she could see Emma sitting on the still covered sofa, her elbows on her knees and her eyes staring intensely at the flickering flame.

"Here I thought you were going to starve me," Emma chuckled lowly as Regina flipped on the light switch. "Took you long enough."

"I've been busy."

"You're a shitty captor, Regina."

Regina clenched her jaw tightly as she placed the container, fork, and bottle of water on the table. "It's spaghetti and meatballs. I didn't bother saving you any salad because I know you wouldn't have eaten it anyway."

"You sure know me, don't you, hmm?" Emma asked as she slowly approached her. Regina pulled off the lid on the container and heated the food with a small wave of her hand. "Neat trick."

"I'm sure you've realized by now your magic has been somewhat contained and that the more you try to use it, the faster it drains."

"Yeah, just how did you manage to do that to me, hmm?" Emma asked with a purr to her voice as she took another step closer to Regina, grabbing a hold of her wrist before she could make a dash towards the stairs. "You know, your little soundproofing spell only works one way. I could hear everything, Regina. _Everything_ ," she chuckled mirthlessly and moved until their lips were only inches apart. "You care about me," she whispered, her breath falling hot over Regina's lips. "You _love_ me."

"Emma, stop it."

"Yet," she smirked and let her go, "you are afraid of me, aren't you, Regina?"

"No, I am not," Regina said shakily and curled her hands into fists at her sides. "Leave the container and fork at the top of the stairs. I will retrieve them in the morning. Eat and I'll bring up fresh sheets and towels as I had promised you earlier."

Regina turned and descended down the stairs quickly, knowing she missed the hateful snarl that Emma shot in her direction. She left the door unlocked while she made a quick trip down the hallway to the linen closet. She checked in on Henry, finding him on his computer, music still playing and he was completely immersed in the game her was playing. Satisfied he had no idea what was happening or that Emma was just upstairs, Regina returned to the stairway and climbed up them slowly.

The container was on the table and the fork stuck into the food that was half gone, but Emma was nowhere to be seen. With a heavy sigh, she tentatively made her way towards the open bedroom door. She wasn't sure what she was walking into, but thankfully it was nothing salacious as Emma just stood by the window that looked out over the backyard.

"I tried to eat it," Emma muttered and Regina kept her eyes on her as she approached the double bed and placed the towels and bed sheets down. "Nothing tastes the same anymore. Nothing. It all tastes like dirt, like garbage. Can't even remember the last time I ate anything that didn't taste that way."

"And here I thought you were going to tell me what a horrible cook I am."

"You're not," Emma said and she turned around. "I keep getting these cravings, you know, and I couldn't figure out what it was, but when I tried to eat what you brought me, I knew then exactly what I was craving."

Regina swallowed thickly at the predatory gaze Emma had fixated on her. She felt the heat rush to her cheeks and she took a step back towards the open bedroom door. Emma licked over her lips every time she took a step closer to her. Regina's heart was racing so hard she was certain that Emma could hear it if she listened closely enough.

"I like the way the darkness tastes," Emma drawled as she scratched her nails over her hips and smirked. "I think I'll like the way that _you_ taste even better."

Regina didn't have a second to react because Emma was suddenly right there, holding her hard against the doorframe and her lips were on hers, kissing her hard and deep. It wasn't quite like the way she'd kissed her in the woods, but Regina could still taste the anger behind the kiss. She wanted to push her away, but she gave in, just for a second, and kissed her back with just as much hunger. It only lasted a second before she felt Emma's hand between her legs, possessively cupping her pussy over her pants and that's when she pushed her away hard and she rushed towards the stairs with Emma hot on her heels.

Regina didn't stop when Emma called out for her and she didn't stop until the door was locked behind her and the key safely in her pocket. She took a few deep breaths before she walked to her bedroom, the tears only falling one she buried her face into the pillow on her bed in an attempt to muffle the frustrated scream she just couldn't hold back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to tell me your thoughts on this chapter/the story! I would love to hear from those who are reading what you think so far :)


	4. Chapter 4

Regina sat on the edge of her bed with the dagger in her hand. The kiss hadn't left her mind in the hours since it had happened and whenever she closed her eyes, she could feel Emma's lips on hers once again. She gripped on to the dagger and bit her bottom lip as she trailed a fingertip over Emma's name engraved in the blade.

It was almost midnight and the knock on her door startled her. She slipped the dagger under her pillow before pulling on her robe. She unlocked the door and opened it, surprised to see Henry still awake and standing just outside her door.

"Henry," Regina sighed. "What are you doing? Why aren't you asleep?"

"I—I had a nightmare."

"Would you like to talk about it?"

"No. Yes," he frowned. "I don't know."

Regina reached out to wrap an arm around his shoulders. "Come on, let's go downstairs and I'll make us some herbal tea and you can tell me about your nightmare if you wish."

Regina remembered when he was younger, years before he was given that book that forever change the course their lives would take, when he would wake up in the middle of the night and she would make him some herbal tea to sooth him, to calm him, to help ease him back to sleep as he told her of his nightmares. It had been a long time since he came to her because of a bad dream and as she led the way into the kitchen, she looked back at him and saw the young boy he once was and not the man he was growing into.

Regina filled the kettle and placed it on the burner on the stove. She sighed tiredly as she turned it on and retrieved two mugs from the cupboard and placed them on the counter. Henry grabbed the small jar of homemade herbal tea that Regina occasionally used only as a sleep aid and smiled at her as he opened the jar.

"I talked to David earlier," Regina said as she handed Henry a small measuring spoon.

"You did?"

"Yes," she nodded, watching him carefully as he scooped the tealeaves into each mug meticulously. "I'll be taking you over there around ten."

"Sounds good," Henry said and he placed the measuring spoon on the counter. "You should come too, Mom. You haven't really spent a lot of time with Neal."

"Perhaps another time," Regina replied. "Next time," she said as she looked at her son pointedly. "I promise."

Regina grabbed the measuring spoon and rinsed it off in the sink before drying it with the towel that was hanging off the oven handle. Henry rapped his fingers against the counter before turning to her with a slight frown on his face.

"I saw her," he said quietly. "Ma. Emma," he finished before sighing heavily and rapped his fingers against the countertop again. "She really did kill all those people, Hook, Hood and his men, didn't she?"

"The Dark One did—"

"But it is a part of her now so _she_ did it, didn't she?"

"Henry, you need to understand that while the Dark One's essence is inside of her, it's not _her_ doing these things. She isn't in control."

"How do you know that?" Henry challenged her. "How do you know she isn't control, Mom? Have you seen her?" He asked and he shook his head as he took a step back and crossed his arms over his chest. "You have, haven't you?"

"Henry—"

"Stop lying to me! Why can't you just tell me the truth?"

Regina flinched at the tone of his voice and how it had risen with his anger and frustration. Gone was the voice she'd known when he'd been a boy and it was replaced with that of a voice of a boy that was not yet a man.

"I've seen her," Regina admitted hesitantly. "Henry, you don't want to see her like this."

"How do you know that?"

"Because you don't."

"Mom—"

"No," Regina snapped. "Henry, you need to understand that right now, she is not herself and she may not be for some time yet. I don't want you to see what she has become."

"But I've already see what she has become," Henry said angrily. "She _killed_ those people! Why did she do that? Why, Mom? Why did she kill them?"

Regina fought her own tears as she pulled her son into her embrace, holding him tightly as his whole body wracked with uncontrollable sobs. "It isn't her," she whispered into his ear. "It is not her, Henry."

"I just want her back."

"I know."

"Can you bring her back, Mom?" Henry asked as he pulled back just enough to look at Regina in the eyes. The tears the spilled forth broke her heart and despite not knowing the answer herself, she just nodded. "Do you promise?"

"Yes, Henry," she whispered and placed a firm kiss on his forehead before wiping away at the tears spilling down his cheeks. "I promise that I will try."

The kettle started to whistle and Regina placed another kiss on his forehead before turning to the stove to lift the steaming kettle off the burner. Her hands were shaking, as they did a lot more these days, as she poured the hot water into the first mug and then to the second. She added just a half of a teaspoon of sugar to Henry's mug before draining the tealeaves.

"Was that what your nightmare was about, Henry?"

"I saw her…killing them," he whispered as he carried his mug over to the kitchen table and sat down in his usual seat. "I shouldn't have watched the news last night. It's not even on every night, only when…bad things happen, but once I started watching it, I couldn't stop. I—I don't want to believe that she did those things."

Regina reached out for him and brought their foreheads together. "Just remember that this isn't who she is, Henry. Don't give up on her, okay?"

"Okay."

Regina pressed her lips to his forehead once more before pulling back. "We both love you so very much. Don't you ever forget that."

"I won't, Mom."

"Drink your tea," Regina said quietly. "What else was your bad dream about?"

"Mostly just that," Henry shrugged. "It scared me because I know she's out there right now and I don't know if I'm going to wake up to find out she killed someone else."

"Do you remember what I used to tell you when you had nightmares? Think of a happy memory as you fall back asleep and your happy memory will chase away the fears," she said and he smiled, nodding his head as he remembered. "What is one of your happy memories of Emma?"

"Anytime the three of us are together," Henry replied. "As a family. I like it when it's just the three of us together, Mom."

"Me too."

"Do you think it'll ever be the way it was before?"

"It's all we can hope for," Regina smiled and she sipped her tea, glancing up at the ceiling momentarily and knew that if Emma was awake, she was without a doubt listening to their conversation. "Are you feeling any better? Ready to try to go back to sleep yet, Henry?"

"I guess," he shrugged. "I'll finish this upstairs," he said as he held up his cup of herbal tea he'd barely drunk from yet. "Thanks, Mom."

"Good night," Regina smiled at him and he stood up from the chair, pausing to dip his head down to place a kiss on her forehead. "I love you."

"Love you too, Mom. Night."

Regina sat in the quiet for quite some time after Henry returned to bed, sipping her tea and feeling the effects kick in shortly after she had finished it. She turned off the lights and headed up to her bed, pausing momentarily at the door to the third floor stairs. The key was safely tucked inside her bedside table drawer and since it was the middle of the night, she wasn't feeling up to checking in on Emma and having a repeat of what had happened earlier.

As much as she wanted to kiss her again, she knew it couldn't happen. Emma wasn't entirely herself and Regina had her suspicions that her motive behind kissing her was not because she wanted to, but because it had become a game of power. It was a ploy Regina knew all too well, unfortunately, and one she had never been on the receiving end of before. It made her feel uneasy because of her feelings for Emma, and it made her heart ache and wish to go back to a time where things were just easier. Back to a time before their whole lives had changed once again. Back to a time before Emma had sacrificed herself to save her and the rest of the town.

Regina removed her robe once she was inside her room. She yawned as her exhaustion hit her completely. She couldn't even truly recall the last time she'd slept, but it'd been a few days, maybe a little longer, since she'd had more than a few hours of fitful, restless sleep. She crawled into bed, her eyes sliding shut the moment her head hit the pillow and she tiredly pulled the covers over her body and willed for sleep to come and for her dreams to be just that, dreams and not the nightmares that came and went just as they had for Henry.

More often than not, Regina found herself thinking of Emma, especially in those heavy moments just before she succumbed to the pull of sleep. It was in those moments she allowed herself to indulge in fantasy of a life that wasn't hers, of a relationship that never possibly could be. Before it had been because of obstacles that came in form of two men that had instilled themselves into one another's lives. It had been a never-ending fight to save lives and the town and even when thing had slowed down for almost two whole months, there were still other reasons that kept things from going any further than friendship between them. Yet, it still didn't stop Regina, in those moments before she fell asleep, of thinking of all the ways they could've been together and wishing for the chance to make it all come true.

In a simpler life, in a different world even, it would make perfect sense that they would be together, that they could be in love and raise their son together. It wasn't much different than what they had already been doing, but that was a different world, a simpler life, and one where Emma Swan could love her too.

Regina had always been hyperaware when she was dreaming, knowing she was dreaming and sometimes able to control her dreams unless they had turned into nightmares and her control was stripped away. She knew when she blinked open her eyes that she had awoken into a familiar dream. She knew from the way the soft glow pooled into the room and from the way the air simply tasted. It was here in this world, this other life, that Emma Swan did indeed love her too, and one too many times she had indulged in her fantasy, allowing it to play out in her dreams to make up for the lack of it in her life while she was awake.

She knew who was there in the bed beside her without having to look. She could feel Emma shift beside her and like most times her dreams started out this way, she knew exactly where it would lead as it always did.

Yet, after what had happened between her and Emma upstairs earlier, she wasn't so sure she wanted to dream of that, of making love with a woman who only truly existed there in that space, in her mind and her imagination.

"Are you awake?"

"No," Regina said quietly. "Are you?"

"I don't know," Emma smiled and Regina turned to look at her, allowing herself to indulge in her sweet smile and loving, adoring eyes. "Care to find out?"

"Emma, we can't do this."

"Why?"

"This isn't real," she said sadly. "It's not real. _You're_ not real."

Emma shook her head and reached for Regina's hand under the sheets. She could feel the softness of her hand and the warmth of it, and it did indeed feel as real as ever. She could smell Emma's shampoo, only just faintly, and the hint of vanilla that always seemed to invade her senses even if Emma wasn't close by. She closed her eyes and felt Emma's soft lips press to her cheek.

"I'm not real, am I?"

"No."

"Are you sure?" Emma whispered, her lips pressing to her cheek once more. "Because you feel real to me, Gina."

"Don't call me that," Regina sighed. "Don't ever call me that again."

"I know you're lying," Emma said and she squeezed her hand gently. "I can always tell. You like it when I call you that don't you? Nobody else ever calls you that."

Regina turned her head away and closed her eyes again, but because she was dreaming, she could still very much see the room they were in and she could still very much feel the bed and the soft sheets against her naked body. And she could still very much feel Emma's hand in her own and the way that Emma intertwined their fingers with practiced ease.

"Tell me why I'm not real, Gina."

"Because I'm dreaming."

"Are you?"

"Yes," she sighed in annoyance. "You're nothing but a figment of my imagination. You're supposed to agree with me."

Emma laughed and lifted her other hand, placing a finger under Regina's chin before she turned her head and waited for Regina to open her eyes. "But what if I'm not?"

"My mind and my heart is playing a cruel trick on me," Regina said quietly and it only caused Emma to laugh again. "That is all it is. A trick."

"Why is it a trick?"

"Because you are upstairs right now," Regina replied. "Because you," she sighed as she stared into Emma's beautiful green eyes, "you are not you, but you are. I'm trying to help you, Emma. I'm trying to save you. I—I don't know how."

"I know," Emma nodded and squeezed her hand again just as gently as before. "You will, Regina, you will save me. I know you won't give up until you do."

"I don't know how, Emma."

"You'll figure it out," she smiled. "You always do, don't you?" Regina shook her head as Emma's hand moved to cup her cheek gently. "You do, Regina, and you will this time too. I have all my faith in you."

"I wish I could believe that to be true."

"You know that it is true," Emma smiled, shifting until their bodies were almost touching, their lips so very close. "I'm just a figment of your imagination, remember? In a way, wouldn't that be your conscious telling you what you already know?"

Emma—or rather her conscious—did have a point and she relaxed in the soft bed and closed her eyes again when Emma pressed her lips to her cheek just shy of the corner of her mouth.

It never went this way, but Regina supposed it had a lot to do with the current turn of events and the fact that Emma Swan was locked up in her attic, bound there by a powerful enchantment only Regina could break.

"When was the last time?"

"Pardon?" Regina asked, blinking as Emma stayed close to her, their lips a hairsbreadth apart. "When was what the last time?"

"That I was here with you?"

"It's been…a while."

"How long is a while?" Emma asked with a teasing smile. "Gina?"

"It has been a few weeks," she sighed. "Not since before…everything happened."

Emma kissed her then and it was soft and slow and sweet. The moment Regina began to respond to the kiss was the moment she realized this was far different than any other times she had dreamt of doing this, but Emma's tongue was demanding entrance past her lips and her mind was spinning as she gave in completely.

When Emma moved to lie on top of her—a first—she could feel the warmth of her naked flesh against her own and she could feel the weight of her body as Emma relaxed on top of her. Regina didn't think of much else other than kissing her and she let her hands roam over the smooth expanse of Emma's back, revelling in the way Emma shivered when she traced her fingers down her spine slowly. It was Emma who broke the kiss first and she smiled down at Regina and lifted her fingers to trace alone her jaw slowly.

"It should've been like that the first time," Emma whispered.

"What are you talking about?"

"Our first kiss," she smiled lightly. "It should've been just like that."

"What—" Regina sat up, but Emma was gone and she was alone in her bed, the soft glow of light traded in for the first rays of sunlight that poked their way through her partially drawn drapes. "Gods," Regina groaned and she fell back against the bed, grasping at her pajama top and deftly flicked open the top three buttons in an attempt to cool herself off.

Her alarm went off just minutes later and she flipped it off before crawling out of bed. It was early yet and she knew she'd only been asleep for a few hours at most, but it had only felt like a handful of minutes at most. It took her longer than usual to get ready for the day and she spent almost twenty minutes just standing under the hot spray of water in the shower, replaying her dream over and over again, more so what Emma had said in those few lingering seconds before she'd woken up with a start.

She was grateful that Henry was already downstairs when she finally made it out of her room. He was hunched over a bowl of frosted flakes, half-awake, but dressed and ready to start the day. Regina fiddled with the coffee maker, sighing in frustration when she spilled the water when she filled up the reservoir and missed the filter when she scooped out the appropriate amount of grounds into it slowly.

"Mom, you okay?"

"Fine, dear," she sighed as she finally turned the infuriating machine on and wiped her hands over her black slacks. "I am just a little tired today, is all."

"Are you going to go back to the vault today?"

"No," she shook her head. "I have some books here I can go through, although I have picked them apart enough as it is. I believe there is something that I am missing."

"You'll get it," Henry smiled. "You got this, Mom."

His enthusiasm and faith in her reminded her so much of Emma and it caused a sharp pang in her chest. If Henry noticed, he didn't say anything as he went back to finishing up his cereal quickly and quietly. She didn't have to remind him for once to rinse out his bowl before placing it in the top rack of the dishwasher and he wandered off to his room to spend some time playing his video games or reading comics before Regina would drive him over to his grandparents' for a visit.

Without paying much thought, she made herself a cup of coffee and another for Emma. She brought it up to the third floor, only unlocking the door when she was certain Henry was otherwise preoccupied in his room. She walked up the stairs quietly, careful not to spill a drop of coffee despite the fact that both hands were shaking slightly. She made it to the top of the stairs and exhaled sharply before stepping past the barrier.

She wasn't surprised to find the main room empty, but what surprised her was the container of food she'd brought up the night before was empty and rinsed out and drying in the sink. She placed both mugs on the table, noticing the Polaroid she'd left there was no longer there. She sighed and licked over her lips before making her way to the closed bedroom door, knowing Emma was in there since the bathroom door was wide open and the lights were off.

"Emma?" Regina asked and she lifted a hand to knock, but stopped short when she heard a soft whimper just beyond the door. She was hesitant to open the door, but she did so quietly and peered inside.

"No," Emma gasped from the bed and Regina pushed the door open a little more and saw her tossing and turning on top of the sheets in only a black lacy bra and a thong that left very little to the imagination. "No, stop it, please!"

"Emma?" Regina asked a little louder and she rapped her knuckles against the door, startling Emma awake. "I've brought you some coffee. Get dressed."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Emma gasped as she sat up in the bed and placed a hand against her chest. Her whole demeanour changed in an instant and she stretched out languidly on the bed with a salacious smile curling over her lips. "Since you so rudely interrupted my dream, perhaps we can continue where it left off, hmm?"

"I doubt that was a dream, dear, because it sounded much more like a nightmare. And," she paused as she allowed herself a moment to take in Emma's lean form, "as enticing as the offer is, I must decline."

"Pity," Emma smirked and blew her a kiss just as she turned on her heels and walked back towards the kitchenette.

Regina let out the breath she was holding as soon as she picked up her mug of coffee. Her dreams definitely didn't do Emma justice, at least not the ones where she could see her body and not just feel it. She felt her whole body flush in arousal that she quickly tried to shake when she heard Emma emerge from the bedroom just moments later and thankfully, for her sake, fully dressed aside from the leather jacket that still laid out on the covered sofa.

Emma had a self-satisfied smirk on her face as Regina nodded towards the mug on the table. Emma picked it up and gave it a small sniff before placing it back down on the table. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared Regina down.

"I'm not trying to poison you," Regina said and she rolled her eyes and Emma's indigent scoff. "I left it black for that very reason."

"Black," she sneered. "Like my soul? Like my heart will be eventually?"

"Emma—"

"It's fine," she smirked as she picked the mug up again and took a small sip. "At least it doesn't taste like garbage. It tastes…good."

Regina rolled her eyes again. "You're welcome."

"Aren't you just a ball of sunshine in the morning, Gina," Emma chuckled dryly, her smirk not disappearing in the slightest.

"What the hell did you just call me?"

"Gina," Emma drawled and Regina shook with anger and took a step back from Emma and towards the stairs. "Running away again, are you?"

"I have things to do today," Regina replied tersely. "Enjoy your coffee, Swan."

Regina's thoughts were racing through her mind and she rushed down the stairs, spilling half of her coffee from the mug as she yanked open the door and slammed it shut behind her. She took the key from her pocket and locked it, pocketing the key just as she heard the floor creak behind her.

"Mom, what were you doing up there?" Henry asked and Regina exhaled shakily when she turned to face her always and ever curious son. "Mom?"

"I went up to check to see if I had any other books tucked away," she said carefully, knowing if she said much else that he would see right through her lie. "I must have already gotten them down. Come on, are you just about ready to head over to visit with your grandparents, dear?"

"Yeah, I guess so," he shrugged. "I thought you didn't keep any of your books up in the attic, Mom?"

"It just slipped my mind," she sighed and she led the way down the stairs, frowning as she dumped the remainder of her coffee in the sink in the kitchen before grabbing her purse and her keys. "Don't forget to grab your warmer jacket, Henry. It's getting colder outside in the afternoons now and I'm certain you'll be going to the park with them and the baby at some point today."

"Okay!" Henry called out from the foyer where she found him digging through the coat closet, emerging only when he found his wool jacket and slipped it on. Regina sighed as she walked over to him and fixed the collar. "It's a little tight."

"Yes, I suppose it is, dear. Tomorrow we'll get you a new jacket for the fall. You'll need it," she said and she reached up to brush aside his bangs that nearly covered his eyes and he groaned. "I believe there will also be a haircut on the agenda for tomorrow as well, dear. It's getting quite long."

"Mom," he groaned with a roll of his eyes and yet the small smile she caught skirting over his lips before he turned away from her to pull his shoes on told her that he still loved that motherly attention she gave him, especially with Emma not being around.

Regina glanced up the stairs and frowned. It was only a matter of time before Henry would figure out that she was holding Emma captive in their very own house and literally right under his nose. When that happened, she just had to hope that the fallout would be minimal and that he would understand.

[X]

Regina avoided the third floor all together when she returned from dropping Henry off at the Charming's loft. She retreated to her study and went through some of the books she hadn't been through in a while, looking for answers that still weren't there, at least not in the particular books she was thumbing furiously through.

She hadn't had much time before to ponder about the way Emma had called her "Gina", not when she had been so careless and had slammed the stairwell door, alerting Henry in the process. But when she tired of thumbing through one useless book after another, she tossed them onto the edge of the sofa before running her fingers through her hair, a frustrated sigh falling past her lips as her mind reeled right back to her dream she'd unexpectedly woken from at the worst possible moment.

_It should've been like that the first time._

Regina shook her head. It just wasn't possible. It had only been nothing but a dream, all of it just a figment of her imagination and nothing more. If that was truly the case, she argued with her thoughts, then why would Emma call her what she did in her dream?

She pinched the bridge of her nose and rose from the sofa, grabbing the tumbler of whiskey and two of her crystal glasses before halting and putting them back. After a quick trip into the kitchen for glasses she could care less if they were broken for one reason or another, she climbed the stairs to the second floor and stood outside the third floor stairwell door for a good ten minutes before shaking her head and placing the tumbler and the glasses on the floor and stalked into her bedroom.

The dagger, she thought as she struggled for a moment to remember what she'd done with it and a deep frown etched into her lips as she pulled it out from underneath her pillow. She shook slightly at the knowledge that it hadn't been protected since the middle of the night and that anyone could've gotten their hands on it if they had bothered to try. She placed it back in the safe box in her closet and when she waved her hands over the box to place it under a protection spell, she paused midway through.

The dagger had been under her pillow as she'd slept and while she'd been dreaming, the very same dagger that was now all too connected to Emma. Sure, she had dreamt of Emma before, but they never held conversation aside from a few quips from Emma, but nothing that would be considered conversation, not like the one they'd had. Previous dreams hadn't felt that real, maybe on occasion and on rather lonely nights, but she had never been able to feel the heat from Emma's body, or the weight of her hand in her own, or the softness of her skin.

She shook her head and finished the spell before casting another around her closet. She was just exhausted, that's all it was, and her exhaustion was taking its toll on her body. She convinced herself as she walked out to the stairwell door that Emma was simply playing games with her and finding new ways to push her buttons until she snapped.

"You're back," Emma smirked when she reached the top step and she returned the smirk and stepped past the barrier. "Going to run away when you get scared of me again?"

"No."

"So," Emma purred as she circled around her, each step taken so fluidly that if Regina hadn't glanced down at her heeled boots for a moment, she wouldn't been convinced that she was floating. "So, you came up for a drink?"

"I thought we could both use one," Regina shrugged nonchalantly. "Or does whisky taste like dirt and garbage to you too?"

"Quite the opposite," Emma laughed. "Is that the one I had yesterday? The one that tastes like scotch, hmm?"

"Yes."

"Perfect," Emma said and she licked over her lips slowly, taking the tumbler from Regina's hand and one of the glasses she'd juggled in the other. "Are you back to your cheery old self now, Regina?"

Regina ignored her and clenched her jaw. She watched her pour herself a glass then grabbed Regina's and placed it on the table. She poured her some, just under half, before raising her own towards Regina and downed what was in the glass right back.

"Where is my dagger?" Emma asked as she slammed the glass down on the table.

"It's not _yours_."

"It has my name on it now, doesn't it?" Emma asked, cocking her head to the side and looking at Regina with a challenging glint in her eyes. "If it has _my_ name on it, that makes it _mine_."

Regina sipped her drink and paused, her eyes not leaving Emma's before she downed the rest of it and placed it down gently on the table. "Do you honestly believe I would just give it to you?"

"No," she chewed out. "Because what's the fun in that, huh, Gina? You used to love playing games, didn't you? Show the peasants who had the power, who was in control. You won't make me beg, will you, Your Majesty?"

"Are you going to pour another drink, Emma?" Regina asked darkly.

Emma chuckled before reaching for the tumbler and instead of pouring the whisky into her glass she placed the top against her lips and took a quick swig, holding it out to Regina who just looked at her in disgust. "Oh, do I have cooties now?"

"Stop it, Emma, you're acting like a petulant child."

"Careful now," she warned. "You haven't seen me when I get angry and trust me," she said tightly as she forced the tumbler into Regina's hand. "You _don't_ want me to get angry. You have no idea what I am capable of, Regina. Now take a drink. I want to play a game."

"What kind of a game?"

"Drink."

Regina took the smallest of sips that she could manage and placed the tumbler beside the glasses on the table. "What kind of a game do you want to play, Emma? What are your terms?"

"Oh," she chortled and pointed at her. "You're down for this, aren't you?" Emma clapped her hands together excitedly. "Tell me something, _Gina_ , have you ever played a drinking game before?" Upon her silence, Emma laughed again and it sent shivers down her spine, shivers she couldn't quite fight off. "My terms are this. You don't get to leave until this bottle is done and boy, this stuff is pretty fucking potent, so you better hope you can make it to the end. Wouldn't want to black out in the presence of the Dark One, now would you?"

"Any other terms?" Regina asked through clenched teeth. Emma clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and Regina pulled out the chair at the table and sat down, Emma following suit a moment later. "What is this game we're playing then?"

"I'll let you choose. Here are your choices," Emma said and she held up her left index finger. "One, "never have I ever", a rather popular game of choice." Regina just rolled her eyes and Emma lifted up her middle finger. "Or we can play "would you rather" which is a personal favourite of mine. It is your choice, Gina. What is it going to be?"

Regina bit her bottom lip, knowing she had to make a choice, but how could she make a choice when she had played neither of those games, much less had ever heard of them before now. Emma wiggled her two fingers at her, a playful smirk curling over her lips as she waited.

"Clock is ticking, my patience is wearing thin. What is it going to be?"

"Never have I ever."


	5. Chapter 5

Regina couldn't believe she allowed Emma to talk her into playing such a childish game even if there was liquor involved. It wasn't even noon yet and she had a sinking feeling that this game would end up with them both being intoxicated beyond their control. She watched Emma pour the whisky into each glass and she slid one over to Regina before placing the tumbler down in the middle of the table.

"Before we start, can I make a phone call?"

"By all means," Emma said in a bored tone. "Checking in on _our_ son?"

"More so about making arrangements for him to stay with your parents until tomorrow."

"Afraid he'll find out you have me locked up in the attic, _Gina_?"

She clenched her jaw and stood up from the chair. She said not a word as she descended down the stairs quickly and went to use the phone in the spare room to call Henry at the Charming's loft. She was almost relieved when it was David who answered the phone on the fifth ring. She didn't need to explain and she only asked if they could have Henry spend the night because she wanted to research without interruptions.

Another lie. One lie after another. She hung up with a shake of her head and wondered just how many more lies she'd have to tell until she could figure out how to save Emma.

She was doing it to protect Henry, their son, and because she cared deeply for Emma. She didn't want to lose her to the darkness that had already begun to take hold of her heart and soul. Regina headed back up to the third floor, keeping the key to the door just on the bottom step. Regina smoothed her hands over her blouse and stepped past the barrier with her head held high and shoulders firm.

If Emma wanted to play childish games, she'd go along with it as long as it kept her even just remotely happy in a sense. She cleared her throat when she noticed Emma had moved to the sofa, the drop sheet now removed and sat folded on the floor beside the far end of the sofa. The whisky tumbler sat on the coffee table, as did both glasses that had been topped up and now filled nearly to the brim. All Regina could hope for was for this ridiculous game to be over quickly enough and hopefully Emma would forget her terms by the time they finished off their first full glass.

Highly unlikely, but one could hope for the best in a situation she never in a million years imagined to ever end up in. Regina seated herself at the far end of the small sofa and deftly crossed her right leg over her left.

"You'll have to explain the rules to me as I am not familiar with this petty little game."

"Of course not," Emma smirked and Regina wondered how long the playful side of her darkness would stick around for before she grew irritable and angry. "One of us will say something we have or haven't done and if the other has done it, they take a drink. Following me so far?"

"Yes."

"I'm going to change things up a little this time though," Emma said as she leaned forward and picked up her glass, taking a small sip, her eyes never wandering away from the intense gaze the two were suddenly locked in. "If you think I'm lying, you call me out and I have to finish whatever is left in my glass, and vice versa. Are you following so far?"

"Yes, I believe so. Anything else, Swan, or shall we get on with this game?"

"Eager, are you?"

"I didn't plan on spending my Saturday with you, if that's what you want to hear."

"Oh, I like it when you get sassy, Regina," Emma chuckled. "Okay, round one. We'll call this a test round, shall we?" Emma tapped a finger against the rim of her glass and from the glint in her eyes, Regina knew that for however long the game was going to go on for, it was going to get incredibly awkward. "Never have I ever…locked someone up in my attic and lied to my son about where his other mother currently is?"

"Emma—"

"This would be where you would take a drink, Regina," she taunted and scoffed. "All right. This round isn't a test. Never have I ever thought about…kissing someone in this room."

"This is absurd, Emma!"

"This is the game. Drink."

"Why should I have to drink?" Regina asked, flabbergasted and her eyes went wide as Emma took a sip of her drink. "Are you serious, Swan?"

"I kissed you, didn't I? That means I had to have been thinking about it. Drink or I'll call you on it and you'll have to drink the entire glass."

Regina scoffed and took a miniscule of a sip, rolling her eyes once more when Emma just raised an eyebrow and lifted a finger to indicate for her to sip a little more. "I suppose that it is my turn now?"

"Yes."

"Never have I ever sacrificed my life for someone I care for."

"Is that all you have?" Emma chuckled throatily, but she took a sip from her glass and let out a small groan at the burn of the whisky as she swallowed. Emma barely blinked as Regina took a sip of her own and wished she'd brought the tumbler of cider up instead. At least her cider, while it packed a punch, would take an entire glass before either of them would feel the effects.

The questions that followed related to their past, both choosing questions they knew the other would have to drink to on purpose. By the sixth round, Emma rolled her eyes, clearly bored of their little game already and she topped up their glasses and sat back on the sofa, sighing dramatically.

"How many people have you killed, Regina?"

"That is now how this game works."

"Fuck the game," Emma snapped. "How many?"

"Enough."

"Would you say more than twenty?" Emma asked, testing her. "More than a hundred?"

"By my hands or by my orders?" Regina snapped and Emma just shrugged. "I told you my answer. Enough. Too many."

"Did you take their hearts, Regina? Squeezed until it was nothing but dust and they just crumpled in front of you, gasping for their last breath?" Emma asked and she moved closer to Regina on the soft and Regina just clenched her jaw tight. "How many did you strangle, hmm? I bet it was always with magic, never with your bare hands, because you were a Queen and far too refined to dirty your hands by touching their poor, pathetic, dirty peasant necks. Am I right."

"Is there a point to this, Swan?"

"Crushing hearts, that was your favourite, wasn't it?" Emma continued and Regina was all too aware of how close Emma was sitting to her and more so of how hard her heart was racing as anger rushed through her veins. "It's almost too clean, isn't it? There's no blood. You barely had to dirty yourself to take a life."

"Can we get back to the game or have you tired of your trivial little idea already?"

"The control that you had," Emma continued lowly and she reached out to place her hand just over Regina's left breast. "You could make anyone do whatever you want them to do. All you had to do was take it," she whispered and licked over her lips as her fingers moved to trail over the buttons of Regina's blouse. Regina was almost transfixed on Emma's lips, her voice, the feel of her warm hand that she could feel through the thin material of her blouse and bra. Her whole body was reacting and she couldn't stop it. "I could take yours right now, couldn't I, Regina?"

"Stop it, Emma."

"Make me."

Regina lifted her right hand quickly and slapped her across the face. "I've had quite enough of this game of yours, Emma. I'm done."

"Are you?"

Regina shook as she stood up too quickly and the room spun as all the blood suddenly rushed to her head. She recovered almost immediately and slammed her glass down on the coffee table. "I am _done_ with your ridiculous games, Swan," she said in a dangerously low voice. "Try all you might to push my buttons, but I assure you that no matter how much you _piss_ me off, I am still going to help you."

Regina stormed past the barrier and down the stairs, nearly losing her footing on the last step. She picked up the key and fumbled with getting it into the lock. She could hear Emma laughing from the top of the stairs, deep, throaty, malicious laughter that made the bile rise into her throat. She slammed the door behind her and it was suddenly silent, the spell still in place even if it only worked one way.

Regina silently cursed herself for even giving in to such an insignificant little game at the Dark One's expense. Childish and petty is what it was. She felt unsteady on her feet, the whisky taking its toll on her otherwise exhausted body. She braced a hand against the wall, nearly knocking a framed picture of her and Henry off, a picture of when he was only just barely two years old.

She stroked her fingers over the wooden frame, remembering that day. He'd been teething and crying for hours upon hours on end, yet when Graham had shown up, he had soothed the teething toddler and in return had taken a picture of her and her son together in the aftermath of one very epic toddler meltdown.

Regina took a few deep breaths to calm herself; soothing her mind with thoughts of Henry instead of the highly unstable woman she has in her attic, and fixed the picture on the wall until it was back in its previous perfect position.

The liquor wasn't settling well in her stomach and she rushed towards the bathroom, barely lifting the toilet seat before she threw up. As the nausea passed, she stood at the sink and watched the water run from the tap for a moment before splashing some water on her face and rinsed out her mouth. She felt weak as she walked out of the bathroom and she paused for a moment before walking down the hallway to her room.

Knowing that Henry was safe at his grandparents' loft until the next day, she kicked off her heels and un-tucked her blouse from her slacks. She laid down on her bed, sighing heavily as she closed her eyes and pressed her fingers to her temples, trying to soothe the insistent throbbing in her head.

She did everything she could to take her mind off of Emma Swan, but it didn't work the way she had hoped. Every time she thought of a memory of Henry, she thought back to Emma and the day that she had given those same memories to her. She tried to think of anything else that didn't involve Henry or Emma, but there wasn't anything else to think of that didn't cause her heart to ache even more so.

A part of her had yet to grieve, but another part of her refused to because she was still so hurt and angry he had chosen someone else, Zelena, even after finding out she had been masquerading as his long thought to be dead wife. She wanted to grieve, not because of her chance at love lost now that he was dead, but for his son who now had no parents there to raise him, to love him, to be his family. If she could allow herself to grieve, it would be for Roland and only him.

And for Emma, because she had lost the light in her soul the moment she had chosen to save Regina from the darkness, from death.

The alcohol still sat unsettled in her stomach and she could feel the burn of the buzz coursing through her body. Normally she would've embraced that feeling, but she was emotionally and physically exhausted. She kept her eyes closed and folded her hands over her chest just over her heart and gave into the inevitable pull of sleep.

Her dreams were always different when she had alcohol in her system and she feared in those moments before she finally lost consciousness that she would end up in a sexual dream with Emma as the star. She feared a dream of that nature because of the last one, of how eerily real it had felt and the things that Emma had said. She feared it because deep down she had a feeling that it wasn't just a dream and that Emma had been real and that she had been there with her and that she hadn't been just a figment of Regina's imagination.

It was definitely a while before she blinked open her eyes and found herself in the very same room as the night before, but there was a dramatic difference this time around. Emma wasn't in bed with her, but standing by the window and fully dressed in jeans and a rather simple and plain long sleeved grey shirt.

"You're here," Emma said softly without looking back at her. "I wondered when you'd show up."

"Emma—"

"I've been here a little while already. It was getting kind of lonely."

Regina clenched her jaw tight and glanced down at her body. At least as she lay in the bed she was fully dressed unlike the last time. Strangely enough, she was in the same clothes she wore in the waking world and she moved slowly, fluidly as she rose from the bed and went to stand next to Emma at the window. When she glanced out, she couldn't see anything aside from the warm, glowing light that always shone in from outside.

"Guess I was wrong when I thought we were always in bed together, huh?" Emma asked, a dry chuckle slipping out as she shook her head lightly. "Is that a regular thing for you, Regina? To dream about me? Naked in your bed?" Emma asked and Regina kept quiet as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I'd ask why, but I'm not as stupid as you like to think I am sometimes."

"I don't think that way about you, Emma."

"Sometimes?"

Regina fought the urge to roll her eyes and it drew out a small laugh past Emma's lips. She turned to look at her in the same moment that Emma turned to look at her in return and Emma flashed a small and almost shy smile at her that made the butterflies in her stomach take flight. She had missed her, so very much, and that smile she had missed even more ever since she encountered the woman who she had become in the last couple of weeks.

"I'm sorry, Regina."

"What for?"

"For what happened," she said quietly. "Upstairs. The game?"

"Never have I ever?"

"Yeah. That. I'm sorry. I—I tried to get in control but it was like I was being blocked, forced to watch, to listen. I could tell how uncomfortable it made you and I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Emma. It wasn't you."

"It was. Kind of?" Emma furrowed her brow. "I mean, it's still me, isn't it? It's still my body, my voice, even if I'm not always right there on the surface and fighting for control."

"Do you find it hard to fight for that control, Emma?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Something keeps blocking me. Sometimes I can break through, but it doesn't last very long at all, other times I try and I try and I just…can't."

"When you were in control the last time, how did you do it?"

Emma shrugged. "I don't know. I just know I came to see you and I remember how angry I was when your office was empty. I just…I don't know, I can't explain it. One minute I wasn't in control and the next I was. It was a fight to hold on, to stay _there_ , you know?"

"Like with magic, emotions are extremely powerful if used in the right way," Regina said and she thought back for a moment to the handful of magic lessons they'd had and how they should've had so much more. "Do you remember what I taught you about control?"

"Yeah," Emma said with that same shy smile curling over her lips. "I do remember."

"Try using that again and don't give up, Emma. You can fight this. You can fight the Dark One that has entered your body, your soul. It's never too late."

"What if I can't?"

Regina reached out for Emma's trembling hands out of instinct and most because while she was in control of herself during her dreams, that control sometimes slipped. "You can. You can do this, Emma. I need you to fight. I need you to get in control. I need you to overpower the Dark One long enough for me to find a way to fix this. To help you."

"Save me, you mean."

"Yes."

"So, this is real, isn't it?" Emma asked as she glanced down at their joined hands. "I'm in your head."

"I suppose so."

"Do you always come here?"

"Sometimes."

"It's nice. I like it. It's soft and it's warm and that light is soothing."

"Is it?" Regina asked, fighting the urge to laugh and also to agree with her. "I'm glad you've enjoyed the time you've spent here thus far, Emma."

"How many times have I been here?"

"As you or just a figment of my imagination?"

"You tell me."

Regina let go of her hands then and turned back to look out at the window into the nothingness that lay beyond the single pane of glass. How many times had it been? Far too many for her to be able to count and yet she wasn't about to admit that whether they were trapped in her dream together or not. There were just some things she wasn't willing to admit—not even to herself.

"I see," Emma said quietly. "Is this a first?"

"What?"

"Us not being in the bed?"

"No."

"So," Emma drawled and Regina knew she was pressing for answers she wasn't willing to give. "How many times, Regina?"

"I can't give you a number, if that's what you're reaching for."

"Enough?"

"Yes."

"Damn," Emma chuckled throatily. "Regina?"

"Yes?"

She looked over at Emma when she didn't say a word and saw the blush form quickly on her cheeks. She saw it all happen in an instant then, especially in the ways that Emma's eyes flickered, the way her pupils dilated and the way her whole body language suddenly changed. She wasn't sure if it was lust or if the Dark One had commandeered control over her once again, this time on a whole different level. She took a step back, watching Emma carefully and wishing she could just wake herself up because as hard as it was to deal with her like this in the waking world, it was harder in moments like that.

"Emma?" Regina tried as she resisted the urge to reach out to her. "Emma, stay with me. Fight it. Stay right here with me. Don't let it win."

"I'm trying."

"Tell me how I can help you," Regina whispered. Pleaded. She felt beyond desperate to help her in any way that she could. "Tell me."

"Kiss me."

"Emma—"

"Kiss me," she urged as she grabbed a hold of Regina's shoulders. "Kiss me."

"Emma—"

"Please. Kiss me."

Regina was fighting a war within herself and it was one she was losing. She wanted to kiss Emma, a figment of her imagination or not, and she couldn't wage the war against it for any longer. She took that small step forward and sank her right hand into Emma's hair, her left gripping tight at her hip, and she kissed her with everything and all that she had.

The insistent throbbing in her head disappeared in the instant their lips met and she drowned in the feel of Emma's lips against her own. It started off heated and turned into something softer, sweeter as the minutes passed. Her hand that had buried itself into Emma's long blonde hair moved down her neck and along the soft rivets of her spine through her shirt. Emma's hands had settled on her lower back, one hand fisting at her blouse until Regina realized that they were slowly backing up towards the bed.

She was now convinced that Emma wasn't just a figment of her imagination, that she was there with her in her dream, and whatever used to happen between them whenever she dreamt of her couldn't happen again.

"Emma, we can't."

"Hmm?" Emma seemed dazed as she clutched on to her tightly. "We can't what?"

"Do this."

Emma shook her head and let her go, both of them taking a step away suddenly. "You're right. We can't do this."

"If you are really here, this is wrong."

"Like you taking advantage of me without me knowing isn't?" Emma asked, tongue in cheek and she laughed at Regina's incredulous stare. "I'm just joking, Regina."

"Yes. I gathered."

"You're attracted to me," Emma stated, eyes wide as she chewed her bottom lip.

"Emma, this is a conversation I'd much rather have—"

"When we're awake, right," she sighed and she ran her fingers through her hair slowly and let out a frustrated grunt. "What if I can't get in control out there, Regina?"

"You will."

"What if I can't do it?"

"You've done it before, haven't you?"

"Yeah, and look where that ended," she frowned. "The Dark One continued to be me. I'm just glad you figured it out pretty quickly."

"I know you, Emma. The Dark One can try to be you, but I know you."

"You're my best friend," Emma said quietly, her eyes drifting down to the floor to avoid looking at her. "You know that, right?" She asked and Regina swallowed thickly, nodding her head even though Emma couldn't see. "We've been through so much together, haven't we? It just never ends."

"Perhaps it will one day."

"God, I hope so."

Regina just smiled and it faded almost as soon as the smile curled over her lips. She could feel the edges of her dream fading all around her. She wasn't quite ready to leave, to wake up, to have to face the thing that was inside of Emma just yet. She reached forward for Emma's hands and waited until Emma looked back up at her.

"Fight, Emma. Fight it with everything you have. You are strong enough and I know you can fight it. Tell me what I can do to help you."

"I—I don't know."

"Figure it out," Regina whispered and she gave Emma's hands a squeeze. "Do it for Henry if nothing else."

"Maybe even for the chance to get to kiss you again?" Emma asked softly, her voice cracking a little and she offered Regina a shy smile at the end.

"Maybe."

"I will see you here again, won't I?"

"That is a possibility, yes."

Regina was already wondering how Emma was even there in the first place since she was unfamiliar with the magic that needed to be conjured in order for it to be possible to appear in someone else's dreams, to invade their subconscious. It was far more advanced than anything she knew personally and she knew she wasn't the one doing it.

It took a while before she found herself laying in her bed, the room dark, and the house quiet. She lay there for a little while before she crawled out of bed and smoothed out her blouse and slacks. She checked the time and it was just past nine. She had slept through most of the day and part of the night. She had a missed phone call from Henry and a text that came shortly afterwards from him asking her to call him. She felt too groggy for a phone call and she quickly sent him a text to let him know she was all right and said goodnight.

Her mind was reeling over the dream with Emma. She debated whether or not to go upstairs to the third floor to check on her, but she was still mentally exhausted and wasn't entirely sure she could handle seeing her when she wasn't herself.

Despite her mental exhaustion, she did feel better than she had when she'd lain down earlier. She changed into a pair of navy blue silk pajamas and headed down to the study to continue with her endless research and look into the spell that made it possible to visit others sub-conscious. By the time she sat down at her desk in the study, she already knew it was going to be a very long and sleepless night, but she was more than determined to find the answers that had done nothing but evade her for the last couple of weeks.

[X]

When Henry came home the next morning just after ten, Regina hadn't found any answers, but she had found a few compelling pieces regarding several different spells that made it possible for one to appear to the other while dreaming. Each spell acknowledged that in order for it to be possible, one had to evoke deep emotions for the other in order to transcend into their sub-conscious. While what she read was written in another language, one she had trouble translating, it became clear to her that it was Emma who had likely unknowingly cast the spell since her sub-conscious state was the only time she was in control of herself at all.

Despite Henry already having eaten breakfast at his grandparents' place, he asked her to make him some apple pancakes. Regina just smiled at him when he asked and together they made breakfast in the kitchen. She only listened as Henry talked about his baby uncle and how he can move a lot more and babbles in baby-speak. Regina knew how much he loved spending time with the baby and she also knew he spent some of his allowance at times to pick up a new toy for him when he could.

For once, Henry and Regina didn't speak about Emma and for that she was grateful. If they didn't speak about her, she wouldn't have to continue to lie about the very fact that she was in their house and barred to the attic for the time being. Instead, between talking about the baby and school, Henry mentioned that some of the girls had started to take interest in him and he blushed profusely when he mentioned it. It didn't fully sink in for Regina until they'd sat down at the kitchen table to eat.

"Girls are interested in you?" She asked and Henry blushed again and lowered his eyes down to his plate. "Anyone specific, dear?"

"Just some of the girls in my class," he shrugged. "I think they're flirting with me? I don't know. I can never tell. Girls are always so…so awkward and weird."

"They are flirting with you?" Regina asked and even though she was appalled at even thinking of Henry starting to date at fourteen, she was also curious of his apparent admirers. "What makes you think they are?"

"Mom, this is really weird talking to you about this."

"Why?"

"Because you're my mom," he groaned quietly and buried his face into his hands and sighed loudly. "They laugh a lot more now around me. They say hi and giggle. Grace, she always asks me for a hug and her friends squeal when I hug her."

Regina suppressed her laugh and reached for her cup of coffee. "A hug? Really?"

"Mom."

"I think we need to have a little talk," Regina said as she placed her mug back down on the table. "A serious talk."

"Emma already talked to me about sex," Henry said in a rushed whisper. "It just came up one day, not that long ago okay, and she told me that if I'm too embarrassed to buy condoms to let her know and she'll get them for me."

"Henry! You are too young to be having sex!"

"I haven't had sex yet, Mom, jeez!"

"Yet you have thought of it and spoken to Emma about this," Regina said and she had to grit her teeth in order to hold back on lecturing him about safe sex. "What ever did she tell you?"

"Mom," Henry groaned. "It was embarrassing, okay? I'd rather not live through that all over again."

"Henry, if you are…thinking about sex, I want to make sure you know the repercussions of what that involves. I don't want you to have sex with Grace and regret it afterwards. It is not something that is taken lightly. Do you understand?"

"I know," Henry muttered, trying to hide his embarrassment as he covered his face with his hands once more. "Grace is cool but…I don't—not with her—I mean—crap."

"Henry, you know you can talk to me about anything," Regina stated. "I mean anything. There is no need to be embarrassed. I am your mother and I only ever want the best for you. You need to remember that."

"I kissed her. Grace."

"Oh," Regina said and tried to keep her emotions from showing. "Was that your first—"

"Yes."

"Oh."

"Mom, this is why I didn't tell you," Henry muttered. "You're upset."

"I am not upset."

"You are."

"Henry," she sighed and reached out for his hand. "I am not upset. You are growing up. You're becoming a man and you're going to experience these things that every normal teenager experiences. You are going to have a lot of firsts and I don't want you to be embarrassed or afraid to talk to me about these sort of things."

"She's not my girlfriend," Henry said quietly. "I—I haven't asked her."

"Do you want her to be your girlfriend?"

"I don't know. I like her, but I don't know."

"Well, regardless of that, it is your decision of course. The worst thing that could happen is she could say no."

"Right."

"Now," Regina sighed and felt herself shaking a little because she had thought she would have a little more time before girls became interesting to Henry. "What did Emma tell you about sex, dear?"

Henry's face went even redder and Regina sipped her coffee and waited. "She said that it is something that I shouldn't jump into just because I want to," he said quietly and his eyes flew open wide. "Not that I am thinking about it right now or anything," he said in a rush and he took a deep breath before continuing. "She told me all about safe sex too. Condoms and birth control, all that stuff we learned in health class. She said it was better when I was with someone I care about or even love and that it should mean something the first time. That it'd be special. She talked about making sure that not only was I ready, but that the girl I am with is and that it'll happen when the time is right."

Regina could only imagine that conversation hadn't been easy for either of them, but when it came to Emma, she knew Henry found it easier to talk to her about more personal things such as girls and sex. From what Henry had just told her, it seemed as if Emma had covered the bases fairly well.

"Well, I would hope that if you have a girlfriend and are thinking of taking that step, that you will at least talk to me about it regardless of how embarrassing it is for you."

"Okay, Mom."

"As for condoms," she said with a small cough. "I will extend the same offer as Emma had. If you feel too embarrassed to buy them on your own, I will pick up a…box for you."

"Mom," Henry groaned quietly, but he smiled a little bit at her. "Thanks."

"Now, why don't we clean up together and perhaps we can go out and find you a new jacket," she said with a smile and he nodded before he began to clear away the table.

"I got this, Mom. Why don't you go and get dressed?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "I'll clean up. You go and get ready, okay?"

Regina didn't argue with him and instead she just walked over to him and placed a loving kiss on his forehead. "A new jacket and a haircut today," she said with a small laugh.

"Fine."

Regina left him to clean up the dishes and headed upstairs. She grabbed her robe from the back of her door and headed into the bathroom to have a quick shower. She turned on the water and let it warm up as she stripped out of her pajamas and folded them neatly before placing them on top of the vanity.

She tried not to think of the conversation she'd had with Henry. She tried not to think of the fact that Emma was just upstairs and had likely overheard everything. She tried not to think of anything other than how good the hot spray of water felt when she stepped under it. She closed her eyes and tipped her head back, letting the water cascade over her hair. She tried not to think of anything other than having a quick shower and the trip to the store and the barber she had planned with Henry.

She was out of the shower in no less than ten minutes and she wrapped her robe around her body and grabbed a small towel to dry her hair as she walked out into the hallway. She closed the bedroom door behind her and tossed the damp towel onto the bed before undoing her robe and sliding it off.

"Regina."

"Emma?" Regina gasped and she grabbed her robe to quickly cover herself. "What the hell are you doing here? You can't—you shouldn't be—how did you get out?"

Emma, who sat on her chaise lounge by the window just shrugged and stretched out languidly while dragging her tongue across her lips and she just shrugged nonchalantly as a laugh escaped past her lips.

There was no possible way that Emma could've gotten past the enchantment spell she'd cast around the attic. She felt a wave of panic wash over her as Emma rose from the chaise lounge and sauntered towards her. She said not a word as she blew her a kiss and disappeared in front of her very eyes, leaving only a trail of greyish coloured smoke behind. Regina placed a hand over her racing heart and went to the closet, pulling out the safe box that had the dagger inside.

It was gone.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It should be quite obvious that I started writing this before this season began. While I am using the premise of Emma being the Dark One, the story is far different than what the show has already shown us and it is going to play out much differently despite some canon things being mentioned in this chapter and others. That being said, I hope you awesome readers enjoy this chapter!

Regina masked her panic and worries well, something she had learned and perfected over many years. Henry couldn't know about Emma because that would mean admitting that she had lied to him and everyone else about Emma's whereabouts. It was a conversation she wasn't ready to have with him just yet, but she knew that Emma would undoubtedly show up when she least expected it.

The first trip was to the only clothing store in town and Regina parked in front of the building, her eyes darting all along the road for any sign of Emma, but found none. If Henry picked up on anything, he hadn't said a word and she chose to try to focus on the task at hand instead of worrying about where Emma was and what she'd do next.

"Mom?" Henry asked as they got out of the car together. "Do I have a price limit on the jacket or anything?"

"If you see something you like, it doesn't matter how much it costs, dear. All that matters is that you are satisfied and that it fits you well."

"Cool," Henry grinned and he held the door to the shop open for her to enter first.

Regina wasn't surprised they were the only customers and the woman behind the register just gave them both a curt nod before returning to the paper that was laid out in front of her on the counter. Regina found the rack of men's jackets easily and while there wasn't much of a selection when it came to style, they did have several different sizes.

Her mind was spinning as she struggled to keep her thoughts focused solely on her son, but it didn't matter how hard she tried, she kept going back to thinking of Emma. Every jacket Henry tried on, Regina hummed her approval, occasionally pointing out when one was much too big, or too tight in the shoulders. Henry skipped over the leather jackets and picked up a wool coat, dark grey and so very similar to the one he had already grown out of. He slipped it on and Regina smiled as she fixed his collar.

"You look handsome," she said and he rolled his eyes. "Do you like this one?"

"Yeah, I do. It fits well. Doesn't it?"

"It is a tad big, but you'll grow into it soon enough and hopefully you don't grow out of it too quickly," Regina said and he shrugged his way out of the jacket. "Do you need anything else?"

Henry shook his head no. He hated shopping for clothes and he very rarely went with her when she had gone after noticing that his jeans were getting too short or his shirts too small. Henry browsed the racks of jeans while Regina paid for the new jacket.

Regina felt that slight tingle of magic at the base of her spine when she and Henry walked out of the store together. She urged him to go down to the barbershop to get his hair cut and after a little protesting on his end, he gave in and walked down the street and into the barbershop. Regina walked in the opposite direction, feeling the magic growing stronger with every step she took.

She knew that Emma was nearby, just as she knew that Emma was taunting her, playing a game of cat and mouse with her. She sighed in irritation before turning on her heels and headed down to the barbershop where Henry had just been seated in the chair and the old man who owned the place was cutting his hair.

Regina took a seat in one of the chairs by the entrance and plucked a magazine off the side table, scoffing at the fact that it was from the very week that the curse had been in place. She tossed it back on the table and watched the old man cut Henry's hair in the same style as he always wore it for as long as she could remember. After he was finished and she gave her final approval, she paid for his haircut and they left together. It was only when she got back in the car did she feel that deep pull of magic, Emma's magic, and she swallowed thickly as she tried to just ignore it.

Like most Sunday's, they went to Granny's for lunch and sat in their usual booth near the back. Henry kept fidgeting with his now much shorter hair while Regina ordered club sandwiches for them both, a chocolate milkshake for Henry and a coffee for herself.

"Hi, Henry," a blond haired girl that Regina didn't recognize said as she approached the table with caution and Regina couldn't help but notice her smile the moment Henry looked over at her.

"Hi Joanie," he said with a lopsided smile.

"You cut your hair."

"Yeah," Henry shrugged. "My mom made me cut it."

"Well, I like it," she said shyly and Regina had to fight to keep from smiling at the adorable exchange between the girl and her son. "Are you busy today by any chance?"

"Uh, nope," Henry shrugged and he looked over at Regina who just gave him a nod that indicated it was all right if he made plans. "Why? What are you up to, Joanie?"

"Oh, not much. A few of us were going to get together and hang out at the park. Would you like to come?" Joanie asked and Henry was hesitant to answer as he reached up to push his shorter bangs away from his forehead. "Grace will be there."

"She is?" Henry perked up. "I'm just going to have lunch with my mom. I could meet you guys there after?"

"Sure," she smiled. "We'll all be there. See you later, Henry. Mayor Mills," she said as she acknowledged Regina and she left, skipping out of the diner while Henry watched her, only turning back once the door shut behind her.

"What?"

"Nothing, dear," Regina said as a smile twitched at her lips. "Is that one of the girls you told me about?"

"I guess, yeah. She's Grace's best friend."

"She seems like a rather nice girl."

"She is."

"I want you to be home in time for dinner, Henry."

"Six, right?"

"Yes."

"If you end up going elsewhere, I would like for you to inform me," Regina continued and she didn't elaborate on why and she didn't need to. Henry nodded in understanding as their lunch was placed on the table in front of them. "I like that you have friends now."

"Me too, Mom."

A little bit of normalcy in a time of uncertainty put Regina slightly at ease. They didn't talk much over lunch, but one thing she did notice was the way the slight blush on Henry's cheeks hadn't left since he spoken with that blonde haired girl. She wanted to ask him who she was, who her family was and at one time she may have remembered who she used to be before the curse, but since it had broken, the children started getting older, changing drastically into different people, neither who they'd been before the curse or during.

Regina dropped Henry off at the park after they finished lunch, and she made him promise again to be home in time for dinner and to call her if they decided to go somewhere else. She looked at the group of young teenagers hanging out at the park and noted that most of them were definitely girls. She sat in the idling car watching Henry as he approached the group and watched Grace walk over to him with a smile on her face. She noticed the awkward way he greeted her before he hugged her.

Regina swallowed hard and tried not to let her emotions get to the better of her. She always knew her little boy would grow up one day and with that would come all the changes, big and small, including girls and dating.

She drove home with her mind on many things, on Emma and where she could even possibly be and not just on how to save her from the darkness waging a war against the last light in her soul. She thought about Henry and how he hadn't felt comfortable enough to come to her first to talk about the things he talked to Emma about. She thought about the girl who approached him in the diner and then of Grace and the way she smiled at him when he met up with her and their friends at the park.

Regina went straight for the liquor cabinet in the study, pulling out a new bottle of whisky she had in there. Without bothering to retrieve what she figured was an empty tumbler from the third floor, she opened the bottle, removed the cork, and poured herself a glass.

"Not going to offer me one?"

Regina didn't even flinch when she heard Emma's voice from behind her. She just grabbed another glass on the table and poured Emma one and turned around to find her perched on her desk very much like she had the first time she appeared just a handful of days ago.

"That's far enough," Emma said when Regina was only three feet from the desk and with a wave of her hand the glass disappeared from Regina's hand and reappeared in her own. "Thanks for the drink, Gina."

"What do you want?"

"Did you and Henry have a nice time together today?" Emma asked and she smirked before she lifted the glass to her lips and took a sip. "I'm glad you finally got him to cut his hair. I was at him for months and he kept putting it off."

Regina clenched her jaw and walked over to the sofa and sat down, effectively putting a little more space between her and Emma. She took a moment to look at her, noticing she was in completely different clothes. She had a trench coat on, black, and it came to just above her knees. She wore a pair of heels instead of the boots she'd had on before and her hair was once again pulled back into a slick, tight bun. She had to admit that Emma did look strikingly beautiful, and the red lipstick she wore was suspiciously close to that of her own personal favourite shade.

"I bet you're wondering how I managed to get past that barrier spell you put up, hmm?"

"Yes, however did you manage to do that?" Regina asked dryly.

"You seem to forget our magic is basically connected," Emma said and she slid off the desk and took another sip of her drink. "But then again, I know something you don't."

"What is that?"

"Did you ever wonder where I've been all these weeks?" Emma asked and Regina just licked over her lips and waited for her to continue. "I had a little time to make sure that nobody could capture me in the way they did with poor old Rumplestiltskin in the Enchanted Forest. You know, he has some very curious magical items in his possession, which I suspect are now in your vault after that little break in that ruffled Belle's feathers. That barrier spell you found and used against me? Fake."

"The incantation—"

"A little trick," Emma chuckled. "It made you believe it worked and was in place. Did you feel at ease thinking I couldn't escape?"

"Then why didn't you? Why did you wait all that time? To play games with me?"

"If you want to put it that way, yes. But really," she said as she took a few steps closer to her and stopped at the opposite end of the sofa and ran her fingertip along the edge of the arm rest. "Really I was intrigued by those dreams. Just because _I_ wasn't there, doesn't mean I wasn't treated to those lovely memories of them when I woke up."

Regina could feel her anger bubbling up from inside of her, but she said nothing as she didn't want to add any more fuel to the fire Emma was clearly trying to start between the two of them.

"You know it wasn't just a dream, don't you?" Emma pressed on and Regina managed a small and subtle nod of her head. "You want to know something else, Gina?"

"No, but you're going to tell me anyway, aren't you?"

"The last two dreams, those weren't the only time that Emma was there. Did you know that, Gina? Did you know all those times you dreamt of making love, that she was there with you the whole time?"

"You're lying."

"I'm not."

"I am done playing games with you, Emma. I want you out of my house. Now."

"First you try to hold me captive and then you want me gone," Emma said and she tisked before downing what was left in her glass. "What do you want, Regina?"

"I want you to stop playing games with me. I am trying to help you."

"When are you going to realize that you _can't_ help me?"

"I am not giving up on you."

Emma laughed and it sent a chill to her core. "You don't even have the dagger anymore, Regina. How the hell are you going to help me if you don't have it, hmm?"

"I'll find a way," Regina said, keeping her voice firm and even. "As difficult and nearly as impossible as it may be, I will find a way. You'll lose control, Dark One, because I know how strong Emma is and I know how powerful her magic can be."

"Yes, I've had a bit of a struggle with her," she chuckled darkly. "You are right. Her magic is strong, but the more she tries to fight against _me_ , the more she loses control over her magic and the less strength she has to fight _me_ to become herself once again."

There was a definite coldness in her eyes and Regina could see it as it was a stark difference from the warmth she had always seen in Emma's eyes before. It hurt her more than she wanted to admit to see that coldness in her eyes and it made her want to help her at any cost. The Dark One had become Emma, but Emma hadn't become the Dark One. There was a significant difference between the two despite the fact they were two souls in one body.

She was left with the sound of the dark, dry laughter as Emma disappeared without another word. She downed the rest of her drink and decided that another was definitely not a good idea. Instead, she went to her desk and picked up one of the books, flipping through it in frustration until she slammed it shut and picked up the phone.

_"Hello?"_

"Hello, Belle," Regina said quietly. "It's Regina. I was wondering if I could stop by the shop today? Soon, preferably."

_"Why? What's going on?"_

"I want to make sure I didn't miss anything the last time I was there. Would it be all right if I came by?"

_"Of course. I'll be there in ten minutes."_

"Thank you. See you soon," she said quickly and hung up the phone. She wasn't sure what she'd be looking for when she got to Gold's shop, but she had a feeling that whatever it was, she'd find it one way or another.

She was at the very end of her rope now, and the longer the Dark One stayed inside of Emma, the harder it was going to be for her to figure out how to untether the darkness from Emma's very soul.

[X]

Regina and Belle French sat in the back room, both sipping a cup of tea that Belle had offered her when she arrived at the shop. They talked about Gold's current condition and that he had yet to show any improvements in his comatose state. Belle looked exhausted, both mentally and physically, and Regina could only imagine the toll of Gold's health was taking on her as well.

"Do you remember what happened when the Apprentice removed the Dark One's essence from him?" Belle asked and Regina nodded even though she hadn't been there, she had heard from Henry what had happened. "He said we need to go to Merlin, that Merlin is the only one that can stop the Dark One."

"That's what Henry told me, but I—"

"But he is in a whole other realm far, far away from this one."

"That poses a problem in itself," Regina sighed softly. "I—I don't understand how Merlin can help or if he is even still alive. It's been…centuries and all I know of this sorcerer is that he's been around for a very long time and virtually impossible to find."

"Maybe not," Belle replied. "Maybe if he knows the Dark One has taken on a new form, he can help us, you. Help you save Emma."

"Tell me what happened that night, before the darkness escaped from the hat," Regina asked and Belle sighed softly. "Henry, he told me, but there was only so much that he remembers of that moment. Tell me you remember, Belle."

"There was an incantation," she said. "The Apprentice used the hat to draw the darkness out of Rumple's heart, but it—it was too much power to be contained. Before he died, he said that the Sorcerer was the only one powerful enough to destroy the darkness. Regina, I know you want to help Emma, and I know you can, I just don't know how you can do that."

"Without the Sorcerer's help, it'll be as impossible as its been all this time I've been trying to find the answers," Regina said quietly. "Belle, tell me what you know about this man."

"No—not much, I mean, there are stories that we all know, stories that travelled around our realm for centuries, but the facts, they've been rewritten so many times, it is hard to separate fact from fiction in this case."

Regina sighed in frustration and sipped her tea. "Do you have any books I can reference?" She asked. "Stories about this Sorcerer and the world he is from?"

"There may be a few books in the library, but they are not from our realm, Regina. You have taken everything Rumple had here that had been brought over with the curse. The books in the library are just that, books. Fiction. What about the Apprentice's house? Have you looked there?"

"Yes, but not for this," Regina said and she rose from her chair slowly. "Do you think—is it possible that maybe the answers may have been left behind without us knowing?"

"There may be a chance, yes," Belle nodded. "Regina, tell me something," she said as she stood up as well. "Do you think that you can save her?"

"I am going to try."

"Do you think you are powerful enough?"

"I certainly hope so," Regina said evenly. "If I'm not, and if we can find the Sorcerer, I'm afraid there is no helping her no matter what we do."

"We always go great lengths to save the ones we love," Belle stated and she smiled a little before reaching for a set of keys that sat on the cluttered table. "Good luck, Regina. Let me know if there is anything else that I can do to help."

"Thank you, Belle."

"Regina?" Belle called out before she exited the back room. "The box, the hat, it is safe, isn't it?"

"Yes, for the time being."

"And the Dark One's dagger?" Belle asked and Regina paled and shook her head no. "Are we in danger? Will she come after anyone else as she did with…them?"

"I don't know, Belle, but I am going to do all that I can to make sure that nobody else dies at the hands of the Dark One."

"Good luck," Belle said sincerely and Regina walked out of the shop quickly, the front door slamming shut behind her as she stepped out onto the street.

Luck had nothing to do with it, but she sure needed some of it on her side.

She had almost forgotten that Merlin, the Sorcerer had been mentioned, but she'd also been so determined to save Emma herself that she hadn't given anything else much thought at all. Travelling to another realm was beyond impossible. No magic existed any longer powerful enough for even just her to go. No magic beans were in existence any longer and Jefferson's hat had long since been destroyed.

The drive out to the Apprentice's mansion gave her time to think. Halfway there, she decided she did not want to search the house alone and she pulled over to the side of the road with a heavy sigh before making a quick phone call.

"David, it's me," Regina said when the call was picked up on the third ring. "I need you to meet me at the Apprentice's mansion."

_"Whatever for?"_

"If you could meet me there shortly, I will explain everything as best as I can."

_"I'll be there in no less than five minutes. I was on a call at the stables nearby."_

"Perfect."

Regina hung up and drove the rest of the way to the mansion, arriving at the same time as David did in the cruiser. Regina greeted him with a curt nod and the keys Belle had given her in her hand and they walked up the front steps to the front door together.

"What's going on?" David asked, placing a hand on her shoulder to stop her before she could unlock the door. "Regina?"

"I lied to you," she said quietly. "About Emma. I've seen her."

"You have?"

Regina nodded. "I was—I thought I could keep her somewhere safe until I figured out how to untether the darkness from her soul. I found an enchantment to keep her confined, but that failed tremendously."

"Regina," David said as he moved to stand in front of her with nothing but concern in his eyes. "I need you to tell me everything. When did you see her?"

"A few days ago, I came home with Henry and she was in my study. It was Thursday. Henry had skipped school to come check in on me at my vault. We had a…brief conversation that quite frankly did not go very well at all."

"This was before I contacted you about Hook being attacked?" David asked and she slowly nodded her head. "Okay," he said tightly. "When was the next time that you saw her, Regina?"

"Are you interrogating me, Sheriff?"

"No," he said after a moment of silence between them. "I'm asking as her father, not as the sheriff. When was the next time that you saw her?"

Regina backed away from him with a heavy sigh. "Shall we go inside and talk? I'll tell you everything, David."

The mansion had been empty for weeks and yet, strangely there is not a speck of dust to be seen. Regina leads the way to a sitting room just off the foyer and they take a seat in two chairs that were placed in front of a large fireplace. Regina could feel her stomach twisting in knots as David leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. With a deep breath, she began to tell him everything, but yet left out the part of her shared dreams with Emma because that was far too intimate for her to share with anyone.

David sat there and listened and for once he didn't try to interrupt her. For that, she was grateful because when it came to admitting she had essentially screwed up, it was far from easy for her to voice it in words. While their past together was nothing short of complicated, she was grateful for his silence and his unspoken understanding of the matter. He was silent still long after she told him of her last encounter with Emma earlier that afternoon when she had returned home. He was silent even after she conjured up the bottle of whisky she had opened prior to Emma's impromptu visit and hers to see Belle, and he just nodded his thanks as she handed him a glass.

"Why are we here now?" David asked after he'd taken a few sips. "Why here? We've searched every inch of this house and came up with nothing."

"We weren't looking for ways to stop the Dark One then," she replied. "There is a way. I know there is."

"The Sorcerer."

"Yes."

"Who just so happens to be in another realm far from here," David said with a shake of his head. "A realm we cannot reach."

"I am well aware of that, David," she frowned. "Yet that doesn't mean I can't try to find something. If I don't look, how will I know there is nothing to be found?"

"What are we looking for?" David asked, rising from his chair slowly as he took another sip of his drink. "A book? A map? An object?"

"I don't know."

"Then why—"

"Because if we don't look, we will never know, and Emma will not be saved from the darkness that is and very well will consume the last of the good in her soul, Charming. I don't want to see that happen anymore than you and Snow do. Her life has been at stake for weeks. I've seen what the Dark One has done to her, how it has taken over and turned her into a—"

"A monster."

"Yes."

David finished his drink and placed the glass she'd conjured up with the bottle of whisky on the small table between the two armchairs. "Let's start looking, shall we?"

"David?"

"Yes?"

"You aren't going to tell anyone, are you?" Regina asked, worried more about Henry finding out than anyone else. "You won't tell Snow, will you?"

"No," he said, clenching his jaw tightly. "Not yet. She'll be beyond devastated to know that Emma has come to you instead of us. She—she's already worried enough as it is."

"Thank you."

"I'm not doing this for you, Regina. I know you are trying to protect Henry most of all, but he is a very clever young man. He will find out that you've lied to him, sooner or later."

"I know," she frowned sadly. "I'll deal with it when the time comes."

"Where shall we start?"

"Anywhere. Everywhere. Pick a room and I'll search another."

"How will I know what I am looking for?"

"You'll know. You'll _feel_ it."

David stopped her from walking away, a strong hand falling on to her shoulder, and she resisted the urge to pull away. "There is something we didn't tell you either, Regina."

"Oh?"

"Snow and I, we went to the fairies the day after…" He trailed off as guilt filled his otherwise soft blue eyes. "They mentioned the Sorcerer. They said he resides in a place called Camelot, a place not far from our own home. They told us that is was utterly impossible to travel across the realms."

"Yes, I've already gathered that much."

"But," he paused and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze, "but it's not entirely impossible, Regina. They said there are ways, if one could conjure up enough magic to open a portal. They didn't say much else."

"Those fairies have always been useless," she muttered under her breath. "What else did they say about this Sorcerer?"

"They know very little of him aside from the stories that have been told over time. Blue was fairly reluctant to speak of him, but even she doesn't know if Merlin is still alive or if he would even have the power still to battle the Dark One as he did many centuries ago."

"It seems that I am not the only one keeping secrets here, Charming."

"It was a dead end," he said quietly, the guilt showing more in his eyes than before. "We didn't think it would matter much. It is nothing but a dead end, Regina. Even if it were possible for us to get to Camelot, who is to say that the Sorcerer can even help her?"

"Nothing is a dead end, not if it can lead us to the answers we all so desperately seek."

"We've all made our mistakes. We're all tired. We're all worried."

"Let's just start looking," Regina said and she turned on her heels. "If you find anything, even if it turns out to be nothing, you call for me, do you understand?"

David just nodded and she transported herself to the second floor of the house with a subtle wave of her hand. Her heart felt heavy, her head was pounding, and the desperation for answers, any answer at all, was at an all time high with the new information swirling in her mind.

She searched every room on the second floor, leaving nothing unturned or checked. Most of the rooms in the house had furniture covered with drop cloths, clearly unused since the mansion had appeared sometime after the third curse, Snow White's curse, that had brought them back to Storybrooke.

It was over an hour later that she found David in the secret room, nearly ripping apart the blank pages of the many books that lined the shelves. He was in a state she had never seen him before and the desperation to find answers that just weren't there mirrored her own. She conjured the whisky and their glasses from the sitting room and after they had shared a drink, they had both calmed down enough to talk in a civilized manner.

"Nothing?" David asked her and she shook her head no. "Another dead end."

"Perhaps," Regina replied. "But at least we know the answers we seek are not here."

She had wondered while she had searched the second bedroom if the reason why they couldn't find anything of significance was because the Apprentice had been clever enough to cast a spell to hide any and all information he may have kept on the Sorcerer himself.

"When will it ever end?" David asked. "When will we ever get a break and just get to live our lives without having to fight all the time?"

"I don't know."

"Your curse, the dark curse, it gave us something that we've never had before. It gave us all a normal life, one we didn't have to fight for every day."

"David, you were in a coma for twenty-eight years."

"But Snow, she was safe. And so was everyone else. They were safe and dare I even say that some of them were happy, too. Maybe it wasn't their happy ending, but it wasn't the opposite of it either. While they may have been miserable, before Emma came to Storybrooke, nobody knew anything else than the lives they'd been living, the same day they had been living over and over again for almost thirty years."

Regina was fighting her own emotions because she knew where David was coming from and she knew what he was trying to say even if all the words weren't coming out. The dark curse had been a failure in many ways, a failure only because it was supposed to be about her happy ending, and yet it wasn't that at all. The people that had been trapped and brought over, transcending realms and stuck in a town for almost three decades, their lives had been better in ways, better because they'd been safe from all of the things that would've otherwise killed them if they'd stayed in the Enchanted Forest.

"Do you wish Emma had never broken the curse?" Regina asked him. "Do you wish that things remained the same?"

"Sometimes, yes. I do. Even if I was still trapped in that coma, unaware of life outside of the darkness I was in because of you, because of the dark curse, I would want things to have remained the same and only because everyone would've been safe. The things we've faced, we wouldn't have had to risk our lives and others just to survive."

"David, this isn't you," Regina said softly. "You have your family again. You have your daughter and you have your son. I know you would not give this up for anything."

"But was it worth it, Regina? Was it?"

"Yes," she responded automatically. "It was worth it. Everything we've been through since the dark curse was broken, ever since Emma set foot in this town, everything since that very moment the clock tower began to work again has been worth it."

"Including all the lives that have been sacrificed for us to be where we are now?"

"There is always sacrifice in our lives, one way or another. It's what makes life hard, but it is also what makes it worth fighting for," Regina said and she shook slightly as she lifted her glass to her lips and took a tentative sip, swallowing hard past the lump that rose in her throat. "I do love her," she admitted quietly. "I do. I never meant for it to happen, but it did. I'm in love with her, David, and my feelings for her run far deeper than anyone else. I'm in love with her so much that it hurts because all I want is to save her."

"I know," David said, his voice cracking as his emotions began to swallow him whole just as Regina's was in that very moment too. "I—I think in some ways, Emma loves you too, Regina. I can't speak for her, but I have seen the way she's looked at you and she's not just the Saviour for all of us. She's yours, too."

Emma was her saviour, just as much as she was hers. She just needed to find a way to save Emma before it was far too late. She wasn't giving up yet even when it felt as if there was nowhere else left to turn for the answers they all sought after to save Emma.


	7. Chapter 7

For the first time ever, Regina had bonded with David over the course of an afternoon spent at the Apprentice's mansion while looking for anything that could help them to not only find the Sorcerer, but to help save Emma. They left shortly after five and Regina returned home not only with their emotional conversation that centered around the first curse, but after they discussed ways to capture Emma somewhere safe and with the real enchantment that David promised he would retrieve from the fairies as soon as possible.

Even though she had been careful on the drive home after the two drinks she'd had with David at the mansion, she still felt unsteady on her feet when she walked up to her front door and let herself into the house. She had almost anticipated the feel of Emma's magic upon her return, but she felt nothing as she walked through the house and into the kitchen to get started on dinner before Henry was due to return home.

After she spent a grand total of ten minutes trying to figure out what to make for dinner and staring into the refrigerator and the freezer, she did something she never did and ordered pizza. She ordered Henry's favourite and grimaced as she did, but nothing mattered more to her than her son's happiness in whatever form it may come in at the time being. Tonight it was pizza loaded with onions, green peppers, mushrooms, bacon and sausage on top of the otherwise classic toppings. The only thing that soothed her mind was knowing there were vegetables on the pizza and that it wasn't just loaded with the double cheese and extra pepperoni she knew Emma used to order for her and Henry on the nights she had him.

It felt so mundane to her, like it was just another day and she was just not up to cooking a home-cooked meal for her and her son, but it was so much more than that and less at the very same time.

By the time that Henry came home, Regina stood in an almost comatose state in the kitchen with a glass of wine she'd hardly touched in her right hand while her left held on to the edge of the island countertop to keep her almost tethered to reality.

"Mom?" Henry asked tentatively as he rapped his knuckled on the counter near her hand. "Mom, are you all right?"

"Yes," Regina said in barely a whisper before she cleared her throat. "Did you have a nice time with your friends, dear?"

"Yeah, yeah it was okay," he shrugged and she noticed the blush creeping over his cheeks before he turned away from her and opened the fridge. "What are we having for dinner?" He asked and pulled out a bottle of water for himself. "Mom?"

"Oh," Regina shook her head. "I've ordered a pizza. It should be here shortly."

"You ordered pizza?" Henry asked in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I didn't quite feel like cooking tonight."

"But why?"

"I told you why," she sighed tiredly and lifted the glass of wine to her lips and took a small and tentative sip. "I also thought it'd be a nice treat. Don't think that I don't know that when you were staying with Emma that she ordered pizza regularly."

"Only sometimes."

"I find that hard to believe."

Henry just laughed and shook his head. "Is that why you ordered pizza, Mom? Because Emma used to do that on Sunday nights?"

"Yes," she replied and it wasn't a lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth either. "Why don't you go wash up? It'll be here soon."

Henry placed his bottle of water down on the counter before wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug. With no explanation behind the hug, he headed to the powder room to wash up for dinner. Regina took a few sips of her wine before the doorbell rang and Henry bounced into the kitchen. She reached for her purse and pulled out a few bills, smiling at him as he ran out to the front door to retrieve the pizza she'd ordered.

Henry returned a few minutes later with the large pizza box and the change. Regina opened the box when he placed it on the counter and helped herself to a slice, not even bothering with a plate as she stood at the island and took a bite. Normally, on the rare occasion she ate pizza, it was with a plate, a fork and a knife. Henry looked at her as if she'd grown a second head and she just shrugged before taking another bite.

"You know, dear," Regina said with a small smile curling over her lips. "When I told you to go and wash up, I thought you would've washed that lip gloss off of your cheek."

"What?" Henry looked mortified as he wiped at his left cheek. "Mom…"

"Grace, I assume?"

"Yes. She kissed me goodbye before I left."

"Just on the cheek?"

"Mom!"

"I'm curious, dear," she smirked and he just rolled his eyes and finally reached for a slice of pizza for himself. "I think it's wonderful you've found a…friend in Grace. She's a rather pleasant girl."

"Yeah," Henry shrugged. "She is. She's funny, too. Always makes me laugh."

"That's good."

"Yeah."

Henry wolfed down two pieces of pizza in the time it took her to eat one. By her second, she had her fill and pushed the box towards him with a small smile. He just grabbed the box and a few paper towels before heading into the den, mumbling about needing to play one of his games on his Xbox since he promised some of his friends he'd been online that night.

Regina retreated to the study not long after Henry had left with the pizza to hide away in the den until bedtime. Of all the books and tomes she had, they did nothing but frustrate her as she eyed them upon her arrival to the study. Talking to Belle earlier had put other ideas into her head, but they were just ideas and nothing was solid, nothing set in stone.

The Sorcerer was her only lead and it wasn't even a lead, not when she couldn't track the man down when he was in an entirely different realm. If only the Apprentice had survived, only then maybe could they have saved Emma from the darkness inside. She grunted out in frustration and scattered the books that covered most of the desk.

She had failed. Failed to keep the dagger within her possession and safe. Failed to find a way to save Emma or even to help her. Failed. Failed. Failed.

Regina was shaking and she knelt down to pick up the books that had scattered over the floor. Every book, every tome, and every scroll she had in her possession was useless. She hadn't even found anything in the Apprentice's house and that left her highly suspicious because if anything, she should've found some if not several magical items that had once belonged to the man.

Had Emma, the Dark One, beaten her to the Apprentice's mansion and taken whatever magic items, books, and tomes that had once been in his possession? There were weeks of Emma being missing and many gaps to fill, weeks of unexplained, unknown whereabouts to account for.

As Regina picked up the last book from the floor, she nearly dropped it again when she found Emma's circle necklace lying neatly beneath it, the very same necklace she had never seen the blonde go without for a single day in all the years since she'd known her. She lifted the silver chain delicately, watching as the circle swayed slightly in the air. She frowned and held out her left palm, allowing the cool silver necklace to pool in it neatly before sliding it into her pocket.

She was just exhausted and she knew she was useless unless she had some decent sleep and soon. She cleaned up the study a little more before ushering Henry up to bed. It took her a while before she changed out of her clothes and placed Emma's necklace securely in her bedside drawer. She was restless by the time she crawled under the sheets and her mind just wouldn't shut off long enough for her to fall asleep.

When she did sleep, she didn't dream. It was an old recurring nightmare she hadn't had in years of her time as the Evil Queen. She chose to forget the details as soon as she managed to wake herself up just a few hours after finally finding sleep. From the darkness of her room, she didn't even need to look over at her alarm clock to know it was far too early to be awake.

The stress was mounting and she felt it more than ever as she dragged herself up and out of bed. The way she felt reminded her of a time long before she adopted Henry, when reliving the same day over and over again just became mundane and boring and stressful, not at all the happy ending she had thought it to be at first. She had become just as miserable as most of the others in Storybrooke and when she had first realized that, it was when the depression sank in and her nights were filled with restless sleep that lasted a mere handful of hours at best.

She felt like she was in a fog, and after a long, hot shower, she dressed and headed down to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. The thump of the newspaper hitting the door just after six made her jump and pulled her out of the fog her mind was in. She retrieved the Storybrooke Mirror off the front porch and went back into the kitchen, idly flipping through the pages and her eyes scanning over rather mundane articles that were written only to fill the twelve pages of the morning paper.

Henry came down shortly afterwards while sleepily rubbing at his eyes as he trudged into the kitchen and immediately went to the cupboard to pull out a box of cereal. He mumbled a good morning without looking over at her and she just smiled a little.

"How did you sleep?" Regina asked and Henry shrugged.

"All right," he replied, his voice cracking halfway through, still sounding like the boy he was, but also like the man he was becoming. "Mom, are you okay?"

"Of course I am," Regina replied. "Why would you think otherwise?"

"You look…tired."

"I didn't sleep well last night, Henry. It's nothing to worry about. How about you put the cereal back and we'll go to Granny's for breakfast this morning."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Regina smiled. "Go on and get ready. I'll be waiting in the car."

"Okay."

Regina dumped what was left of her coffee in the sink before grabbing her purse. She headed out to her car and got in, shivering slightly at the chill in the air. She turned the heat on as soon as she turned over the engine and she sat there in the idling car, waiting for Henry while rubbing her hands together.

When was everything going to end, she had to wonder. When would she find a way to save Emma before it was too late? Would she be able to stop her if she felt the urge to kill once again? Emma had always been a smart woman, never doing things unless there was reason behind it. Even with the Dark One in control, Regina had a feeling that even though it felt like games were being played, there was something else behind it. A purpose, whatever that purpose may be, it was definitely one she needed to figure out.

She jumped when the passenger door opened and let out a small sigh of relief when Henry slid into the seat and slammed the door shut. After confirming he had his bag and his brand new jacket, she backed out of the driveway and drove to Granny's and for once she didn't stop Henry from changing the channel on the radio station to something he liked rather than the one she kept it on that played only classical music.

It wasn't a long drive and the rock music that blared out of the speakers did manage to take her mind off of Emma for a handful of minutes. She was distracted even without thinking of anything in particular at all and when she parked at the side of the road just down the street from the diner, Henry reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder before she opened the door.

"Mom, are you okay?"

"Of course I am, Henry. Why would you think otherwise?"

"Because you've been acting weird since last week," Henry replied. "Is it because of…"

"Of who?" Regina asked after he'd trailed off and turned to look out the window. "Henry, is it because of who?"

"Robin."

Regina sighed. "What about him?"

"Aren't you sad he's dead?"

"Of course I am sad, Henry."

"But you haven't cried."

"Everyone mourns differently," she said quietly. "I—I'll be fine, dear."

Henry shook his head. "But you loved him, didn't you? I know things weren't—"

"Henry," she stopped him from continuing. "I don't want to talk about this. Now, let's get out of the car and go for breakfast. If we don't go now, you'll be late for school."

"Mom—"

"No, we're not talking about this, Henry. Let's go have breakfast."

"Mom!"

Regina ignored him as she got out of the car and stormed towards the diner, only turning back once to make sure that Henry was right behind her. She took a few deep breaths before walking into the diner, a fake smile plastered on her face while she walked over to her and Henry's usual booth.

Tensions were high between her and Henry throughout breakfast and neither said another word to one another until she sent him on his way to catch the bus for school and told him to be home in time for dinner.

"Hey, can I get a coffee to go?" Regina asked the young waitress that was busy behind the counter. "Miss?"

"Y—yes of course, Mayor Mills. A large?"

"Please," she replied and rolled her eyes at the young waitress who seemed entirely too nervous as she shakily poured her a coffee to go. Regina placed a twenty on the counter to pay for her coffee and her and Henry's breakfast, the fake smile in place as the young waitress placed the large Styrofoam cup in front of her. "A lid, please," she said tightly and the girl stammered as she grabbed one and knocked over the cup, narrowly missing spilling hot coffee all over her.

"I am so, so sorry!" She said in a rush and Regina just clenched her jaw, turned on her heels and walked towards the door. "Mayor Mills, I am so sorry! Let me get you another cup to go!"

Regina waved the young girl off, not in the mood for incompetence. She was already having a horrible day and it was only getting worse. She drove to the town hall and went straight up to her office, ignoring the few people who were waiting in the chairs just outside. She locked the door and sighed loudly before storming over to her desk. She had several messages and after checking them, she poured herself a small glass of cider from her stash in one of the cabinets. When she felt the buzz begin to course through her body, she began to calm down enough to start her day.

Her morning was filled with one meeting after another with several people from the council along with some citizens who voiced their concerns over the murders at the Merry Men camp and Hook's as well. They were more than afraid that the Dark One would come after them and their loved ones and no matter how hard Regina tried to convince them that they were not in danger, nobody believed her.

She wasn't even so sure she believed it herself.

By four, she hadn't had a moment to herself all day and just as she began to pack up her things, a knock sounded on her office door. She sighed and walked over to open it and she glanced at her visitor in surprise.

"Blue," she said tightly. "What are you doing here?"

"Regina," the fairy said with a curt nod. "May I come in?"

"I was just about to head home."

"I won't take much of your time," she said and walked past the threshold. "I want to talk to you about Emma."

Regina shut the door and turned to look at the petite woman. "What about Emma?"

"I might know how to help you save her," Blue replied. "But, it isn't what you think."

"Why don't we sit down," Regina said, gesturing towards the sofa. "Would you like something to drink, Blue? Tea, perhaps?"

"That would be lovely, but I didn't come for tea, Your Majesty," Blue said quietly and she sat down on the sofa and folded her hands over her lap. "I came here to talk to you about Emma."

"I assume that Charming talked to you?" Regina asked and she sat down next to her.

"Yes," she replied and cleared her throat. "I have come up with a temporary solution with this…situation. As you know, there is no magic outside of Storybrooke—"

"You are not suggesting that we get Emma across the town line, are you?"

"It may be her only chance to survive this," Blue said urgently. "Where is the dagger?"

"You know as well as I do that the Dark One is no longer controlled by—"

"Where is it?" Blue asked firmly and held out a hand towards her. "Tell me you have it, Regina. The dagger?" Regina shook her head no and Blue sighed loudly. "Who has it?"

"She does. The Dark One."

"How? You swore you had hidden and protected it!"

"I did!" Regina exclaimed and she groaned in frustration. "I—I made a mistake."

"What kind of a mistake?" The fairy demanded and she grabbed on to Regina's right hand, gripping tightly. "What kind of a mistake did you make?"

Regina pulled her hand free from the tight grasp and shook her head. "Perhaps we should have a cup of tea and I'll tell you everything, Blue," she said softly. "Everything."

[X]

Regina paced in her study an hour after her meeting with the Blue Fairy. She had told her everything from the first time she saw Emma after the darkness had devoured her and taken her whole, to her attempt in trapping her within an enchantment that should have worked yet failed, to how the Dark One had retrieved the dagger and all but disappeared with it.

When she spoke of the dreams, she left out a few minor details. It was bad enough that David knew she was in love with his daughter and it was a piece of information she would much rather not have the fairy know. Yet, Blue had given her pause for thought when she spoke of an age-old connection through magic, one so rare, so unique, it was nearly unheard of and transcended the realms and was far more powerful than any connection and any love in all the realms that existed in the past, present, and future.

Blue had promised her that they would find a way to lure Emma to the town line and that they would have her cross, unable to return on her own. Blue didn't have to tell her what she already knew, that she'd be the one going with Emma across the town line and that she would be the one that would bring her back when the time was right.

Another thing Blue had told her was that she had to reach out to Emma even if that meant in her dreams. Blue had given her a spell, one that Emma would have to enact on her body in order to gain control long enough to get herself over the town line before the Dark One returned to power over herself. It wasn't guaranteed to be something that would work, especially since Regina no longer had the dagger, but she did have something else that connected her to Emma. Her necklace.

She had nothing left to lose. It was either try whatever she could or lose Emma completely. Losing Emma was not an option and she wasn't going to allow that to happen. She could save her even if that meant leaving Storybrooke for an undisclosed amount of time. It also meant that she'd have to leave Henry behind because Blue warned her that there was no telling how Emma would react with the darkness inside of her in a world without magic.

"Regina?" David called out from the front door. "Regina, are you home?"

"I'm in here," she called out and she continued to pace the study floor, not stopping even when David walked in. "Thank you for coming."

"What's going on?" David asked. "Did you speak with Blue?"

"Yes and she has a rather…temporary solution."

"Oh?"

"Would you like a drink?" Regina asked, gesturing to the bottles of alcohol on the side table. "Help yourself if you'd like."

"What is the temporary solution, Regina?" David asked, unmoving from where he stood just a few feet from her. "Regina?"

"We get her out of town."

"You mean _you_ ," he said tightly. "You get her out of town."

"Yes."

"And then what?"

"I don't know, David!" Regina yelled and she stormed over to the table where she'd left a poured glass of untouched whisky and downed it in one go. "I honestly do not know. Blue said she would keep looking for a solution to—to everything, but she couldn't promise me anything and she couldn't tell me how long it would take. Right now the only thing that we can do is get her out of town where she can be in control of herself once again, where the darkness can't take her as quickly as it would if she stays here."

"Where will you go?"

Regina shook her head and poured herself another drink. "New York City."

"That's over eight hours from here."

"Yes, I'm well aware of how far it is, David."

"You'll be staying in the apartment then?" He asked and she just nodded tightly. "And you're sure she'll be safe out there with you, Regina?"

"I don't know, David, but I can only hope so. Right now, we have nothing else. No answers, no solutions, and we're no closer to saving her than we were weeks ago. What other choice do we have right now?"

"What about Henry?"

"That's why I called you here, to discuss Henry," she said quietly. "He's not coming with us. I need for you and Snow to look after him while we're gone."

"What are you going to tell him?" David asked. "Are you going to tell him the truth, Regina? Because I'm not sure that Snow and I can keep lying to him, especially if you leave town. He'll want answers."

"I'm going to speak with him tonight. I wanted to clear things with you and assure that he will be looked after in my—mine and Emma's absence," Regina replied. "He isn't going to be happy that I've lied to him and nor will he be happy about having to stay behind."

"Are you sure that there is no other way to do this?"

"I've tried to find another way," she sighed heavily. "We've all tried and we've all failed. If this is the only way to save Emma, then it has to be done."

David looked agitated and yet he still nodded in agreement. He rubbed at the back of his neck before joining her at the table and helping himself to a glass of gin. "You are certain there is no other option right now?"

"Yes," she nodded. "There is no telling what she will do next if I don't get her out of town as soon as possible. She's already killed…countless of people, innocent and otherwise. You don't know what it's like to have a taste of the darkness, Charming, nor do you know what it's like to crave the power only taking someone's life can give you."

David downed the gin he'd poured and helped himself to another. "How are you planning on getting her to agree to crossing over the town line and going to New York City?"

"I haven't figured that out yet," she admitted easily even though it was a half-truth. There was no way she was telling David she had shared dreams with Emma. "I do happen to have a few potions I can use to render her unconscious until we cross the town line where the magical effects will wear off immediately."

"And that's safe?"

"Yes," she nodded. "Safer than knocking her out cold with say a baseball bat."

David looked at her strangely for a moment before a small laugh escaped past his lips and he took a sip of his gin before shaking his head. "Did Blue discuss her plans with you about what she would be doing to try to rid the darkness from Emma?"

"No," Regina replied. "She doesn't exactly know where to start herself. She did, however, promise to keep in touch. I'll need you to make sure she adheres to that promise."

"You never did trust her, did you?"

"No."

"Why do you trust her now?"

"Did I say that I do?" Regina asked. "No, I don't trust her, but I am out of options. I have nothing left to go by, nothing left to pick through and hope for the best. The Apprentice would've been our only option, but the man is long dead and the only other person in Storybrooke that can help us is a vegetable and lying in a hospital bed, completely and utterly useless."

Regina felt herself shaking slightly with uncertainty. Of all the people she had put her trust into, she never saw herself going to Snow's husband of all people. Yet, who else was she supposed to turn to now when it was so hard to find people she could trust openly and easily as she did with David? She poured herself another drink and downed the whisky quickly, exhaling sharply at the burn in her throat and chest.

"Will you keep an eye on the fairy while I'm gone?" Regina asked and David just simply nodded and flashed a warm smile her way. "Thank you."

"Don't worry, Regina, I'll make sure that Blue stays on track with the task and keeps you informed of any and all things she finds along the way. I'll look out for Henry, too."

"Will you stay?" Regina asked quietly. "When I talk to Henry once he gets home, will you stay? I—I don't know how he's going to react to any of this."

"How much are you willing to tell him, Regina?" David asked and she just stared down at the crystal glass in her hand before placing it on the table. "Are you going to tell him that Emma was here in the house for a handful of days?"

"Should I?"

"That's not my decision to make," he replied and he placed a warm, heavy hand on her shoulder. "I will, however, support you in whatever you do decide to tell him."

Like her, David had put his trust in her and she couldn't figure out why. Their past was heavy and while not forgotten, she wasn't sure all was forgiven, but they had moved on. They had been almost a family before the first curse had been cast and there they were again, almost a family once more. The only tie they had this time around was Henry, and she wasn't going to deny him the family he always asked for when he was a young boy and had no idea just who everyone in town truly was.

"You all right, Regina?"

"Yes," she nodded. "I'm just tired, David."

"I understand. After you speak with Henry, are you going to summon Emma here?"

"I can't summon her," she replied. "Besides, as I told you earlier, I am no longer in possession of the dagger and even if I was, it doesn't work like it used to."

"It's her light magic," David said quietly. "It's fighting the Dark One and making it impossible to be lured by the power of the dagger the Dark One is tied into."

"Yes, I suppose you are right," Regina said, wondering herself why she hadn't quite thought of it that way before. "How much have you told Snow?"

"You asked me not to tell her anything and I—"

"How much?"

"Nothing, Regina. I earned your trust and I do not intend to break it."

"You'll have to tell her after you take Henry home with you tonight," she countered and he nodded his head and frowned. "You're only going to tell her what I've told Henry, aren't you?"

"Yes. It'll be easier to keep our stories straight, whatever that story may be."

_Lies_ , Regina thought, but she didn't say it. She didn't have to. She just smiled a tight, forced smile at David and resisted the urge to have another drink. She could not be under the influence any more than she already was when she spoke with Henry and explained what was going to happen next.

"Regina, can we talk about what might happen if she can never come back into Storybrooke?" David asked after a few heavy minutes of silence passed between them.

"I don't want to think of that being a very possible outcome."

"Can you just humour me for a moment?" David asked and she sighed. "What if she can never come back because there isn't a way to pull the darkness out of her?"

"Then I'll come for Henry," she replied quietly. "And leave it up to you and Snow whether or not you want to stay here or come to New York City or wherever else we may end up. This is our home and while I am adamant about leaving, staying away from my home forever is something I do not want to think about right now. Blue will find something, something that I've missed. It really is just a matter her wanting to help save Emma from the darkness."

"She wants to—"

"Honestly, you believe that?" Regina asked, a bitter bite to her tone. "That damned fairy has lied before and has done things for her own personal gain. Who is to say this is not one of those times, hmm? She is loyal to no one but herself, and I think you know that."

"Mom?" Henry called out as the front door slammed shut. "Mom, are you home?"

"In here, Henry," she replied and she motioned for David to go sit on the sofa just as Henry walked into the study. "How was your day?"

"Good, yeah," Henry smiled and he looked over at David. "Hey, Grandpa. What are you doing here?"

"Henry, why don't you sit down?" Regina said as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "There is something that I want to talk to you about."

"With Grandpa?"

"Yes, dear."

Henry just scrunched his face and shrugged before walking over to sit beside David on the sofa. Regina took a few deep breaths and sat on the other sofa, her nerves coming in full force. It was never easy admitting to her son that she had lied or kept things from him. It had put a strain on them in the past and she didn't want to have to go through that all over again with him.

She didn't really know where to start or what she wanted him to know, but she started at the beginning, recalling the countless of hours she'd spent looking for ways to help Emma, to save her. He looked confused at first as to why she was telling him the things he already knew, but when she told him that she'd seen Emma, that she had come to her in the very same room they were sitting in, there was no mistaking that flash of anger in his eyes.

What she didn't tell him was about the dreams or the fact she had tried to contain Emma in their attic. Just seeing that he was already angry knowing she had seen Emma and hadn't told him was more than enough pain in her heart for the time being. She knew she couldn't lie to him forever about the whole story, but the time to tell the whole story wasn't then and there.

"So, what happens now?" Henry asked quietly. "Can you still help her, Mom?"

"I am going to try, yes," she nodded. "I—I'm going to take her to New York City for a little while."

"Before she does anything else, right?" Henry asked and before she could answer him, he stood up from the sofa quickly. "I think it's a good idea, Mom, to get her out of Storybrooke. When are we leaving?"

"You are staying," Regina said and Henry glared at her in anger and disbelief. "You are staying with your grandparents until we figure this whole thing out."

"But, Mom—"

"This is not a discussion, Henry. The decision has been made. Now, run along upstairs and pack a bag. You'll be leaving with David shortly."

Henry just stormed out of the room in a huff and Regina pinched the bridge of her nose as she felt a headache coming on. David moved to sit next to her and she sighed heavily when she turned to look at him.

"That went better than I expected," he said softly. "He's angry and he has every right to be, but I'll talk to him, okay?"

"Okay."

"Will you call when you've gotten her out of town?"

"I will."

"Okay," David said with a small smile. "Don't worry about Henry. He'll be all right. What he's feeling now, it'll go away in a few days when he understands that you never told him to protect him. I don't want him seeing her like that either."

"Henry has a key," Regina said and her voice sounded almost distant. "If he's forgotten anything or needs anything, he'll be able to come home. If—if he wants to come home for a night or two, you and Snow can use the guest room down the hall from his."

"Thank you, Regina."

"No," she said as she stood up from the sofa slowly. "Thank you, David. Have Henry lock up on your way out."

"Where are you going?"

"To my vault. I have a few things to retrieve."

"You're not going to say goodbye to Henry?"

"No. Goodbye seems too final and I've already had to say goodbye to him once. I don't want to go through that again. I'll be in touch," Regina said and before David could say another word, she transported herself to her vault immediately.

She cursed at herself when she felt the tears rolling down her cheeks. She didn't have time for tears. The tears could wait until after she'd found a way to get Emma out of Storybrooke. The tears could wait until she was alone in the middle of the night and wishing, hoping for this all to be over and that the darkness wouldn't leave a stain behind on Emma's heart and soul.

It didn't take her long to find the potions she was looking for and by the time she transported herself back home, Henry and David were long gone and the house was empty and quiet, reminding her all too well that she was very much alone.

And very much afraid of what would happen much later that night.


	8. Chapter 8

The grandfather clock downstairs chimed loudly at the stroke of midnight, the sound louder than ever in the quiet, empty house. Regina paced the floor in her bedroom, Emma's necklace in her hand, the chain wrapped around several of her fingers. Her bags had been packed and David had come by just an hour earlier to drop off the bags he'd packed with Emma's clothes and a few other personal items that she knew Snow had thrown in there as well. All the bags were in the trunk of her car and all she needed was to get Emma to appear before her, knock her out with one of the potions and transport her into the car, all the while hoping that her ill-thought out plan wouldn't fail.

When the chiming from the grandfather clock stopped after ten seconds, she stopped pacing and clenched her fist around Emma's necklace. She couldn't summon her to her and despite her exhaustion she couldn't guarantee that Emma would even come to her in her dreams either. The frustration was mounting and the anxiety was making the walls feel as if they were closing in all around her.

"Damn it, Emma, why do you have to make things incredibly complicated?" Regina muttered and she sat down heavily on the edge of the bed.

With a grunt of frustration, she relaxed the hand that was balled into a tight fist and the circle pendant left an indent in the palm of her hand. She unwound the chain from around her fingers and undid the clasp before placing it around her own neck and letting it fall against the skin that was exposed near the collar of her plain white V-neck t-shirt. She wasn't dressed to impress, especially since she'd traded in her slacks for a pair of yoga pants. She was dressed for the long car ride to New York City.

Regina ran her fingers over the edge of her light blue comforter before standing up and resuming her pacing as she had been doing for the last forty-five minutes. She was thinking of not just Emma, but of leaving Henry behind for who knew how long. She was hoping it'd be a couple of weeks at most, but then again there was no telling if Blue would be able to find a way when she had spend weeks trying on her own.

While it was true that she didn't trust the Blue Fairy, she had no one else left to turn to when it came to saving Emma. The other fairies wanted nothing to do with her and Tink had left town before she enacted the second curse to prevent Pan's from taking over. Going to Tink for help would've put her mind more at ease, but even then, if Tink was still around, there was no telling if she could actually help at all in the ways she knew that Blue could.

Regina walked over to the bed and laid down, flicking off the lamp with her magic and she closed her eyes, willing the hundreds of thoughts in her mind to ease off long enough for her to fall asleep. It takes a while, longer than she would've liked, before she began to feel the familiar pull of sleep.

When she became aware of her surroundings in her dream, she almost felt a twang of disappointment to find she was alone in the very same room with the very same warm light shining in through the window. She blinked several times before realizing that she was very much _not_ alone, not when she could feel the soft, warm, wet tongue licking over her clit lazily.

She blinked again and inhaled sharply before mustering up the courage to look down. Even though the sheets cover most of her body, she can see the bobbing head between her spread legs and the rest of the body beneath the sheets at the foot of the bed. It had been quite some time since she had a dream like that, one that was purely sexual and played out the trivial little fantasies she'd had for as long as she could remember.

"Hmm, baby. You like that, don't you?"

_Baby_? Regina's eyes grew wide at the sound of Emma's voice, and although it was soft, it was most definitely hers. Her hands slipped under the sheets and she threaded her fingers through Emma's soft hair, pulling her closer to her cunt and wanting to feel her tongue over her fully.

"Shit," Emma muttered suddenly and she scrambled away from between Regina's legs, but stayed under the covers as she moved to the other side of the bed. "Regina?"

"Yes?"

"Fuck."

Regina whimpered quietly as she crossed her legs, but her clit was throbbing and she had been awfully close to climax before Emma had figured out it was her there in the dream and not the version of herself Emma must have been dreaming about.

"Emma?"

"God, Regina…I can explain."

"There is no need," Regina sighed and she waited for Emma to emerge from beneath the sheets, but she didn't move at all. "Emma?"

"Yeah?"

"There is no reason to hide."

"Yeah, there is," Emma muttered. "I'm so fucking embarrassed right now and I can't wake myself up."

"Please don't be embarrassed," Regina said quietly and she eased back the sheets until Emma took the hint and moved up in the bed until she poked her head out from under the sheets that had kept her hidden. "I was hoping to talk with you, Emma."

"Talk?" Emma asked, her eyes not meeting Regina's and instead she started up at the ceiling. "About what?"

"We need to leave Storybrooke."

"Oh?"

"Yes, immediately."

"How?"

"By enacting a spell," Regina replied. "You need to say this and exactly this. _Tenebras lucem tenebras lucem. Lator huius quidem sine potestate animam. Lucis tenebrae lucem tenebras, et tenebras non esse in potestate units._ It doesn't matter if you are in control of yourself, of your body and soul, it will put you in control."

"What is that, Elvish?"

Regina rolled her eyes. "Latin, Emma."

"What does it mean? I mean, in English? What does it translate into?" Emma asked, the slight pink tint in her cheeks fading as her curiosity got to the better of her. "Regina?"

"Darkness over light, light over darkness. Allow the control of the true bearer of this body's soul. Darkness over light, light over darkness, dark one you are no longer in control," she replied after roughly translating the spell. "It's relatively simple, Swan. Can I trust that you won't mess this up?"

"Can't I just say it in English?" Emma asked and she frowned when Regina simply rolled her eyes once again. "What happens when the spell works?"

"You come straight to me," Regina replied. "There is no telling how long the spell will last, but no matter where you are right now, you come straight to me. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, yeah I got it."

"You need me to repeat it again, don't you?" Regina asked even though she already knew the answer. When Regina repeated the words for the spell that should put Emma in control over the Dark One, she noticed immediately that Emma was not paying attention, but instead her eyes were on her chest. "What?"

"That's mine," Emma said quietly as she reached out to touch the necklace. "When did you find it? Today?"

"Yesterday, two days ago if you want to be technical."

"Just for the record," Emma said sheepishly. "I didn't—when I started dreaming or whatever this is, it wasn't _you_ you, you know?"

"Pardon?"

"Oh god," Emma groaned as she covered her reddening face with both hands. "This is extremely embarrassing, Regina."

"Why?"

"God, you know why. You, well you didn't wake up, but you appeared here with me while I had my head between your legs. That's never happened before! I mean the one time we were naked but we didn't do anything, not really. Oh god, this is all so fucking confusing. I—I didn't know you were actually here with me and I just…went with it."

"Hmm?" Regina turned on her side and readjusted the sheets to make sure she was decently covered. "Do you dream of doing _that_ quite often? With me?"

Emma didn't respond, but from the way she ducked back under the covers, it gave Regina her answer. She sighed and slipped beneath the sheets and moved to place a hand on Emma's bare shoulder. Emma was on her side with her back facing her, but Regina didn't hold back as the urge to trail her fingertips over the smooth expanse of skin was too much to deny herself.

"Why are you embarrassed, Emma?"

"God, you're going to make me tell you again?"

"No," she sighed. "There's truly no reason for you to be embarrassed."

"Why not?"

"Because," Regina whispered as she moved closer to her until their bodies were barely an inch apart. "Because I was quite enjoying what you were doing before you proceeded to freak out."

"Fuck," Emma groaned. "Are you serious?" She asked once she turned a little to look at her. "Seriously, Regina?"

"Yes."

"Okay one, wow," Emma chuckled lightly. "Two, again, are you serious?" She asked and Regina just raised an eyebrow at her. "Really?"

"Yes, _really_."

"Are you fucking with me right now?"

"No," Regina said as her eyes drifted down to Emma's breasts just barely visible to her with the way Emma still had her back to her. "I would much rather be fucking you, as you so eloquently refer it to as," she murmured quietly and she held up a finger when she saw Emma's mouth gape open. "But, I would much rather it happen outside of this little bubble we seem to keep meeting in."

"You—you want to—"

"Yes."

Emma's brow scrunched in confusion. "With me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Are you incredibly daft, Emma?" Regina asked sharply. "Or is it really that hard for you to believe that I am physically attracted to you and would rather experience this outside of a dream?"

"But you—"

"Never voiced it, no," Regina said. "However—"

"You're not even gay!"

"Neither are you, it seems."

"Not entirely true," Emma said and she pulled the sheets down to both of their shoulders and she turned to look at her. "I—I never slept with any man aside from Neal. Killian is— _was_ a way of me trying to please my parents. I guess it doesn't matter now."

"I see."

"Regina—"

"I have been with women before," she admitted quietly and she was sure that they should be saving such a heavy talk for when they were actually awake. "Although I have n—never done what you were doing to me. I'm afraid that wasn't much of a…thing where I come from."

"You've never eaten pussy?" Emma asked and immediately her hands shot to her mouth and Regina had to fight the urge to laugh at Emma's lack of filter. "Shit, I'm sorry."

"No need," Regina dismissed it. "But no, I have never done that to another, but I have been on the receiving end before."

"But you just said—oh," Emma snapped her mouth shut when she realized just who Regina was speaking of without her having to say his name. _Graham_. "How many women have you been with, Regina?"

"One."

"One?"

"Yes, and that," she said as she could already feel the dream beginning to fade, "is a conversation we shall have another time. I am going to repeat the words one more time and when you wake up, which will be very soon, you are to recite the words, word for word and immediately come to me."

"Okay. But Regina, what if it doesn't work for very long? What if I can't get past the town line before—before I lose control again?"

"Let me worry about that. Now, are you paying attention? I fear that we don't have much time left at all."

Emma reached for her hand and their eyes locked in an intense gaze, Emma mouthing each word as Regina repeated them for a third time. Just as she spoke the last word, Emma moved in to place a soft kiss on her lips, one that left her smiling even in the seconds that followed and she blinked open her eyes, not to the soft light, but to the darkness of her own bedroom.

The throb between her legs had followed her into the waking world and she groaned as she rolled off the bed and headed downstairs immediately. She hoped that it wouldn't be long before Emma showed up, whether at the door or in the study as she'd been so fond of doing twice before. She slipped on a jacket, her black leather one that clashed terribly with her yoga pants, but her appearance was the least of her concerns as the minutes passed by quickly.

She pulled out one of the vials from her pants pocket and curled her hand over it gently, ready to use it at a moments notice. When ten minutes had passed and she had done nothing but pace at the foot of the stairs while anxiously looking at the front door, she nearly gave up when a soft knock resounded on the front door before it opened.

"Emma," Regina sighed in relief. "I thought that—"

"You thought that stupid spell would work on me?" Emma asked with a cruel sneer. "I would have thought you were smarter than that, Regina."

Regina's heart stopped for a brief second and a large lump rose in her throat. She took a few stumbling steps backwards as Emma took a few steps towards her. She gasped when her back hit the wall just by the dining room entrance and Emma wasted no time in pinning her there with both hands against the wall by her shoulders.

"I love the way the darkness tastes, but do you know what I've decided that I like even more?" Emma crooned as she dipped her head close to Regina's, their lips a hairsbreadth apart. Regina trembled and she shook her head. "You," she smirked. "I like the way that _you_ taste, Regina."

"Emma—"

Her words were cut off by Emma's lips in a hard, demanding kiss that caught her completely off guard. She nearly dropped the vial but quickly flipped off the cap and poured it over Emma before she had a moment to react. She barely managed to grab on to Emma as the potion immediately took affect, rendering her unconscious.

Panic filled her suddenly because this was happening and there was no turning back now. Using magic, she teleported them both to her car. She thought about placing Emma in the backseat and tying her up in case the potion didn't last as long as it was supposed to. There was no telling what would happen if she woke up, but she knew it wouldn't be a pretty sight at all. The Dark One would be beyond livid and despite having been relatively safe, she knew that it was very possible her life would be on the line.

She drove fast towards the town line and every once in a while she turned to look at Emma in the passenger seat. She was slumped up against the door, her head lolling against the window every time she hit a bump in the road. She gripped on to the steering wheel tight and pressed the gas pedal flush to the floor, the Mercedes' engine roaring as it sailed down the only road that led out of town. When she saw the sign looming up ahead, she inhaled deeply and held her breath, closing her eyes just as the car sped past the town line and she slammed on the brakes in the seconds afterwards.

Her hands were shaking as she looked into the rear view mirror and saw nothing but a dark, lonely road behind her. No sign and no spray-painted line on the asphalt. She had the scroll that would allow her and Emma to return to Storybrooke and it was safely packed in her bag. She looked over at Emma and immediately noticed the difference in her. Her hair was no longer nearly white and had returned to the soft blonde she had always been. She exhaled slowly before easing her foot off the brake and back on to the gas pedal.

It was a long drive to New York City and she wanted to be at least near or in Boston by the time the sun came up. The further she got from Storybrooke now the better, for Emma's sake.

She spent the next four hours thinking of what she was going to do once they were in New York City. She wasn't sure how Emma was going to react, especially being in complete control of her body and mind once more. There was no doubt in her mind that the repercussions of what Emma had done, the lives she had taken, would take its toll. She knew what it was like to suffer from taking the life of another and Emma had yet to walk down that long road ahead of her.

"God, my head hurts," Emma moaned and Regina cast a quick glance at her before turning her attention back to the road. "Regina?"

"Emma," she said quietly. "Aside from your head, are you all right?"

"Where are we?"

"Just outside of Boston," Regina replied. "I was hoping you'd wake up soon. How are you feeling?"

"Did it work?" Emma asked quietly. "The spell?"

"No," Regina said with a shake of her head. "But the potion worked. A little too well it seems. You've been out for a few hours now."

"It feels like I was hit by a truck, metaphorically speaking," she muttered quietly. "Do you think we could stop somewhere? I kind of want to get out of these clothes."

Regina just nodded and after twenty minutes of driving, she found a small motel across the road from a busy gas station and diner. Emma stayed in the car while Regina got them a room, the only one available with two beds. Emma was reluctant to get out of the car once Regina had returned and she let her stay in there while she retrieved Emma's bag from the trunk.

"Your clothes are in here," she said quietly as she placed the bag on Emma's lap. "Your father packed the bag for you so I'm not certain just what he packed for you."

"I'm sure it's fine."

"Are you hungry?" Regina asked and Emma shook her head no. "Right. Here is the key to the room. I'm going to head over to the diner and get some coffee. Would you like one?"

"No."

Regina just nodded and headed towards the road, pausing twice on her walk through the parking lot to look back at Emma still sitting in the car. Regina made sure to be quick in the small and busy diner, ordering herself a large coffee to go and a breakfast sandwich that looked rather appetizing. After paying for her order, she headed back to the motel and a sigh of collective relief blew past her lips when she found Emma to no longer be in the car and the door to their room was left ajar.

Regina entered the room and spotted Emma's bag on the bed closet to the bathroom. Her clothes she'd been wearing were left in a pile at the foot of the bed and her bag was open. She could hear the shower running and she shut the door, locking it behind her before settling down on the other bed to eat her breakfast sandwich in silence.

She soon discovered the TV didn't work and the light bulb in the lamp on the table between the beds flickered constantly. She took to pacing the floor after waiting for Emma to emerge from the bathroom for close to half an hour and when another ten minutes passed and she could still hear the water running, she knocked tentatively on the locked bathroom door.

"Emma?"

"What?"

"Are you all right?"

"Fine," Emma replied faintly. "I'm fine."

Regina tried the door even knowing it was locked and frowned. "What are you doing in there?" She asked and she heard Emma scoff, but received no other reply. "Emma?"

"What?" Emma snapped. "I'm having a shower, all right?"

Regina sighed and walked back over to the bed, the already long drive taking its toll on her. She was beyond exhausted and she was in no condition to continue the drive to New York City until she had some sufficient sleep. She laid down at the bed, grimacing at the hard, lumpy pillow and the weird stains on the ceiling above her. She closed her eyes, willing sleep to come, but it wasn't going to come easy.

She couldn't relax until she heard the water in the shower finally turn off and after ten minutes passed, Emma exited the bathroom and laid down on her own bed. Regina turned and cracked open her eyes to find Emma dressed and lying on the bed on her side, her back to her and her hair still wet.

It took her quite some time to finally find sleep, a dreamless sleep and one she was woken from a few hours later by the sound of Emma whimpering quietly. Regina sat up and looked over at her, watching as she curled into a foetal position and the tears that escaped while she fitfully slept. It didn't take much guessing to know that Emma was having a nightmare and all she wanted to do was crawl into the bed next to her and hold her until the nightmares were chased away.

But she didn't move from her own bed, she just sat and watched. She watched until Emma finally woke a few hours later with a blank stare in her eyes as she laid on her bed and looked over at her.

"Are we heading out soon?"

"Soon, yes," Regina nodded. "Do you want to grab something to eat before we go?"

"No."

"Emma, you need to eat."

"I'm not hungry."

Neither spoke while Emma picked up the clothes she'd been wearing before and shoved them into the small trashcan on the other side of her chosen bed. Emma grabbed her bag and headed out to the car, waiting there for Regina while she went to the office to return the room key and to check out.

Even though Emma refused to eat, Regina made a quick run to the diner across the street, ordering herself a club chicken sandwich and for Emma, a nice, greasy burger with a side of fries and a Coke.

"I told you I wasn't hungry," Emma said when Regina returned to the car and placed the bag with Emma's order on her lap. "Regina—"

"Hungry or not, you do need to eat, Emma."

Regina ate her sandwich slowly, stealing a glance at Emma every once in awhile while she ate. When she was done, she headed out on to the road and back on the interstate, driving south with her sights set on New York City and no stops from there on out until they reached the apartment they'd be calling home for however long it took for the fairy to find a way to pull the darkness out of Emma without killing her in the process.

She didn't want to think of never being able to return to Storybrooke without Emma. She didn't want to think how possible it would be that Emma would never be able to go home again. She didn't even want to think about having Henry come to New York City to live with them if Emma could never return since he was happy in Storybrooke and that was his home and always would be his home. She didn't want to think about what was going through Emma's mind now that the Dark One was no longer in control, yet still very much inside of her, lying dormant and waiting to return.

Ten minutes after they were on the interstate, Regina heard the soft crinkling of the wrapper around the burger and she looked over at Emma with a small smile, relieved to see she had finally caved enough to eat. The next time she looked over, Emma was leaning up against the door and her eyes were closed. She just sighed and turned on the radio, keeping her sights on the road ahead.

[X]

It was already dark by the time they made it to the apartment. Emma was quiet, lingering behind her as they climbed the stairs and entered the apartment that had once belonged to Neal and then to Robin and his family in the weeks they had been living in the city. Regina used the copy of her key to open the door and she frowned at the state of the apartment.

While it wasn't a mess, signs of Robin and Roland, and Marian/Zelena were still left behind. A small stuffed toy bear sat on the couch and Regina picked it up carefully. Her heart broken for the young boy who had lost both of his parents and he probably had no idea why or how someone could do that to him. She swallowed thickly and placed the bear on the arm of the couch and turned to look over at Emma.

"Not much has changed."

"Nothing has changed," Regina replied. "In the morning, we will pack up the rest of their…things," she said quietly. "I don't want anything of _theirs_ left behind."

"Hey," Emma said as she placed a hand on her shoulder, startling her since she hadn't realized Emma was standing so close. "You get some rest and I'll take care of that right now, all right?"

"I can't ask you to do that."

"You aren't. I'm offering to," Emma said with a small, tight smile. "Do you have an extra key?"

"No," Regina shook her head. "Just this one. We'll make another copy for you tomorrow."

She watched Emma walk over to the refrigerator and the face she made when she opened and shut it quickly. "We're going to need to get some food too, you know _after_ we clean out the fridge. There's something definitely rotting in there."

For just a brief moment, Regina saw the old Emma shining through in the way she scrunched up her face in disgust. It was gone just as quickly as it had appeared and her heart dropped instantly.

"I have some money in my purse," Regina said and she handed Emma the entry key and the key to the apartment. "There's a store just around the corner."

"I know."

"Can I trust you?"

"Of course you can, Regina."

"You're not going to run off?"

"Where would I go?"

Regina sighed softly. "Emma, I don't know what's going on with you right now and I am not going to pry, but I want you to promise me one thing—"

"You're helping me," Emma cut her off. "I'm not going to run, Regina. As for what I'm going through right now, well, I'm sure you have a pretty good idea what its like."

"In a sense, yes."

"Look, you get some rest and I'll head out to the store, get some food. I'll clean out the fridge too while I'm at it. I doubt I'll be getting much sleep tonight and besides, there is only one bed."

"There is."

She wanted to tell Emma it would be okay for her to share the bed with her, but despite the shared dreams and their friendship that had been growing before Emma had sacrificed herself to save her, they weren't quite at the bed sharing stage just yet. Regina wasn't even sure if they'd ever get there and holding on to hope seemed foolish enough as it was when her only mission was to help Emma, to save her, not to seduce her.

"Are we going to trade off?" Emma asked. "With the bed? I take the couch one night and you take it the next?"

"If that works for you, I am fine with that arrangement."

Emma nodded and idly scratched at her right shoulder. "Great. Perfect. You take the bed tonight. Like I said, I won't be getting much sleep tonight and I ought to be useful in one way or another."

"Emma?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to call Henry?" Regina asked as she pulled out her cell phone from the pocket of her yoga pants. "He'll be worried about us and it'll put his mind at ease to know that we arrived here safe and sound," she said with a smile. "I bet that you're dying to talk to him. It's been a few weeks since you talked to him last."

"No, I—I don't think I can talk to him right now, Regina."

"I understand."

"I'm just going to…go to the store. Any special requests?"

"I trust you know what I like by now," Regina smiled at her and Emma nodded before taking a few steps backwards. Regina moved to pick up her purse where she'd placed it and pulled out her wallet. She handed Emma a handful of twenties and gave her a curt nod, watching her as she left the apartment before she called Henry.

_"Mom? Did you make it? Are you okay? Is Emma okay?"_ Henry asked the instant he picked up before the first ring finished going through. _"I've been so worried, Mom."_

"Everything is fine, Henry," she replied quietly. "We made it here in one piece. Emma just…stepped out to the store. Sh—she misses you, Henry. She wouldn't want you to worry so much."

_"She's going to be okay now?"_

"Yes," Regina replied even though she wasn't so sure of that herself. "I'll look after her, Henry. I promise you that much."

_"I know you will, Mom. You love her."_

"I—what?" Regina stammered. "Henry—"

_"You guys are best friends now, aren't you?"_

"I—I wouldn't go that far."

_"But you are! Emma is your best friend and you are hers,"_ Henry replied and Regina couldn't help but smile at the sheer determination in his voice. _"You love her, don't you?"_

"I do. Very much so."

They talked for a while, not about Emma, but about smaller and less trivial things such as school and Regina making sure he'd be all right under the care of his grandparents. She tried to assure Henry that they wouldn't be staying away from Storybrooke for too long even though she knew deep in her heart that it wasn't true. He believed her, at least a little bit, and that was enough for both of them for the time being. She only just hung up when Emma returned with an armful of groceries she nearly dropped to the floor the instant she walked in the door.

Upon Emma's wordless insistence, she left her to deal with the groceries and whatever it was that was rotting away in the refrigerator to take her leave and to have a much needed shower before she settled in for the night.

The bathroom was cold and damp and everywhere she looked was evidence of the previous tenants in the apartment. She began to rid the entire bathroom of everything in it that did nothing but serve as a reminder she'd much rather not have. She dumped the shopping bag with all the old products just outside the bathroom door before retrieving her bag and heading back into the bathroom to shower.

She was quick, the water running cold too quickly to allow her much more than ten minutes in the shower. She dressed in her favourite pajamas, dark blue and a size too big. She dried her hair with the towel as much as she could before exiting the bathroom and she found Emma in front of the now empty refrigerator, scrubbing the shelves and the walls with a sponge. She said nothing as she walked into the bedroom and shut the door almost all the way, leaving it open just a crack before she stripped the bed and found clean sheets on a shelf in the small, narrow closet.

It took a while for her to settle in the bed and while it wasn't as uncomfortable as the motel bed and pillow had been, it still wasn't as nearly as soft as her bed back home. Just a few hours after going to bed, she was woken to the bed dipping beside her and she just rolled over to look at Emma as she sheepishly laid down next to her.

"The couch isn't comfortable at all."

"That's fine. The bed is big enough for us to share," Regina replied quietly. "I thought you said you weren't going to sleep tonight?"

"My body decided otherwise."

Regina just smiled tiredly at her and closed her eyes, wanting nothing more than to get back to sleep since she had a feeling the next day was going to be a long and busy one. But after a handful of minutes, she opened her eyes again and even in the darkness of the room and the soft glow of the city lights coming in the window, she could see Emma staring at her from the other side of the bed.

"What's wrong?" Regina asked and Emma just shrugged.

"Are we going to talk about those dreams, Regina?"

"Now?"

"I don't know, whenever. Now works for me."

"I am not sure what you want me to say, Emma," she sighed and she watched Emma lick over her lips and there was no doubt that she was thinking of the last dream they had shared with each other. "I hadn't thought of something like that to be possible, at least not in this world."

"Even with magic?"

"Even with magic," Regina replied.

"Have you ever shared a dream with someone else before?" Emma asked and Regina subtly shook her head no. "Just me?"

"Yes, Emma, just you."

"Do you think it was because I had the Dark One's magic that made it possible?"

"I do not know."

"But it's possible that's the reason, right?"

"There could be many reasons as to why it was possible for us to share a dream."

"Several," Emma muttered quietly. "We shared several dreams."

"Right."

"You know what's crazy?" Emma asked and Regina just stared at her. "The other night I wasn't even sleeping but then I felt this force and I was pulled there."

"I see."

"It wasn't when we were, you know," she continued and Regina could see the slight blush form on her cheeks in that moment. "But I didn't—I mean those dreams were definitely good. Really good," she said quickly and she shifted on the bed to lay a little closer to Regina. "I just can't stop thinking about last night."

"You called me "baby"," Regina said and Emma laughed nervously.

"You didn't like that, did you?"

"I used to be a queen, Emma. I'm a little more refined when it comes to adorable little pet names," Regina said and she smiled at her before reaching across the small space between them to take Emma's hand in her own. "I didn't say that I did not like it, it just caught me rather off guard in the moment. I hadn't expected it at all."

"Oh."

"We shouldn't let those dreams create any awkwardness between us, Emma," she said and Emma nodded quickly in agreement. "We're both grown, mature adults and sharing a sex dream shouldn't change anything between us here in the waking world."

"Oh. Right," Emma sighed. "Of course."

"I have absolutely no idea how long we'll have to stay here," Regina said after a moment, thinking and choosing her words as carefully as she could. "You still have the Dark One's essence inside of you, it is just laying dormant for the time being. I believe it would be a good idea not to pursue anything beyond friendship right now."

"You want to be more than friends?"

It was Regina's turn to blush and she turned to look up at the ceiling and let go of Emma's hand. "The thought has crossed my mind, but we're both dealing with a lot of different things right now. Our focus needs to be on helping you—"

"Saving me," Emma whispered. "I feel okay."

"For now you do, yes, but what about tomorrow?"

"I don't want to think about tomorrow yet."

"Then let's just think of tonight and about getting some sleep."

"Regina?" Emma asked and she turned to look at her once more. "I think—I might need to talk to someone about what I'm going through right now. I know I can talk to you about anything, but I think—"

"You need to talk to a professional," Regina finished for her. "I understand, but that may very well pose a problem. Perhaps you should call Archie and see about having phone sessions with him. At least he understands your situation a lot better than someone outside of Storybrooke would."

"You think he'd do that?"

"Emma, you are not only the Savior, you are also a princess. The people of Storybrooke would do almost anything for you."

"And you? Would you do almost anything for me too?"

"I'd do anything and everything for you, Emma," she admitted in a soft whisper. "I do hope you realize that by now."

"Thank you," Emma whispered before leaning over the last half a foot that was left between them and placed a soft kiss on Regina's cheek. "Good night, Regina."

"Good night, Emma."


	9. Chapter 9

Waking up with someone else in the bed with her was a relatively new experience, but it hadn't been an unpleasant one. She had felt Emma move to spoon her a few hours after they'd fallen asleep and she hadn't bothered to wake up and move away from her at all. The warmth of Emma's body against her back along with the arm that rested lightly over her abdomen, it made her feel safe. And it made her feel something more, something she wasn't quite ready to think about yet.

Before Emma had woken up, she had moved back to her side of the bed, much to Regina's disappointment. Still, she made no move to be the big spoon that time around and spent the next several hours laying stiffly in bed and staring up at the ceiling while her thoughts wandered aimlessly. She got out of bed just as Emma stirred the first time and she told her, albeit just above a whisper, that she'd put the coffee on.

Unlike during the few hours they'd spent at the motel the day before to get some rest before making the rest of the long drive down to the city, Emma hadn't slept restlessly at all and that made her wonder if she'd even dreamt at all throughout the night.

"That bed is not comfortable," Emma groaned as she walked out of the bedroom and rubbed over her lower back. "Do you think we could get a new mattress or something?"

"I suppose so, yes," Regina nodded and she grabbed two mugs out of the cupboard and glanced inside them. They had been poorly washed and she grumbled under her breath as she quickly washed each mug before pouring coffee in them both.

"You want to split the cost?" Emma asked, taking the offered mug from Regina a minute later. "If we're going to be sharing the bed for however long, we should split the cost."

"It'll be fine. I'll cover it," Regina replied. "It just occurred to me that I have no idea where to go to buy a mattress in this city."

"Luckily for you, I lived here for a year," Emma smirked. "We'll head out and I'll show you around. I used to live just a few blocks from here."

"With Henry."

"Yeah. Too bad I never kept that apartment because let me tell you, it is way nicer than this one and it had two bedrooms and a fully equipped kitchen."

"We don't need to pay rent here," Regina said quietly. "Gold took care of the securing the apartment indefinitely."

"What about bills?" Emma asked. "Are we going to need to get jobs?"

"The only job you have, Emma, is to focus on yourself right now. What you've gone through in the last month and the road you are heading on now, it is the furthest thing from easy."

"And you're going to help me?"

"I am going to try," Regina nodded. "Archie can only do so much over the phone for you."

"Right."

Regina sipped her coffee, taking it black since Emma had forgotten to buy milk at the store, but she chose not to bring it up and made a mental note to stop at the store later in the day. There was something rather off about Emma and she couldn't put her finger on what it was exactly. She knew that the things she'd gone through in just the last month alone was enough to break her into pieces that wouldn't easily be put back together, but it wasn't just that. There was the darkness that had blackened her heart and soul, darkness that still lingered even if the Dark One was no longer in control. It was still very much inside of her, locked away in a world without magic.

Regina was already feeling the loss of her own magic and it created a bit of a void inside of her and one she hadn't felt since before Emma had been brought to Storybrooke by their then ten year old son. The apartment was drab and dusty with clutter everywhere and she looked around in distaste, thinking about how easy it'd be to transform the entire space with a wave of her hand if only she had her magic and if only magic worked beyond Storybrooke's town line.

"Maybe I'll call Archie today," Emma said quietly.

"Is that what you wish to do?"

Emma shrugged and stared blankly into her cup of coffee. "Maybe I'll go to the store and get some milk too. I—I didn't forget yesterday, they just didn't have any of the kind you normally buy. The guy said they were going to restock this morning."

"Ah," Regina tittered quietly. "Any brand is fine, Emma."

"But the one you use, I don't know what it is, but it always makes the coffee taste better."

"Perhaps it is the coffee I make and not the milk," she replied and Emma shrugged. "I can give you Archie's number when you are ready to speak with him. If you would rather talk to me, you know that you can—"

"I know."

"I'm going to need to pick up some boxes," Regina said as she glanced around the apartment. "There is a bit too much clutter for my tastes."

"I can help."

"Emma, you don't need to do that."

"I know, but I want to. It'll help me take my mind off of things," she said with a small smile. "I know where we can get some free boxes. I'm just going to shower first," she said as she hooked her thumb in the direction of the bathroom.

"Take your time," Regina replied and she sipped her bitter coffee before flashing a smile at Emma. "We don't have to do too much today if you're not up to it."

"I'm fine, Regina. I'll be fine."

"I certainly hope so," she said under her breath when Emma slipped away into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

She waited until she heard the water in the shower running before she picked up her phone and scrolled through her contacts. She found Archie's personal number and gave him a call.

Their conversation was kept short and she spoke quietly, explaining the situation to him and how Emma was considering calling him for phone sessions hopefully in the near future. Archie agreed to the sessions, free of charge, and promised Regina that they both could trust him to keep their conversations completely confidential. While Regina had never had any problems with him in the past, and his confidentiality was only broken on a few occasions because she had been the one that manipulated him into doing so, she knew that he might just cave if Snow went to him begging for an update on Emma's mental well-being.

After ending her call with Archie, she text Henry to wish him a good day at school and to remind him to behave for his grandparents. She knew she didn't have to remind him to behave since she knew he would, but it was the mother in her that still worried about him sometimes and wondered if he'd turn into one of those rebellious teenagers she always feared he might end up becoming.

She debated on calling or sending a text to David, but she went through her contacts list and found the number to the convent. Like her phone call with Archie, her conversation with Blue was kept short. She hadn't expected her to have any answers or a solution, but it still made her feel a little defeated when she hung up the phone just a few minutes into their conversation.

She dumped her coffee, unable to drink the rest and walked into the bedroom, pausing briefly at the bathroom door to confirm that Emma was still in the shower. She stripped out of her pajamas and pulled out some clothes from her bag. She barely pulled on a pair of black lacy panties before she heard the small gasp coming from the bedroom door. She covered her chest with her arms as she turned a little to look back at Emma, clad in only a towel and her hair dripping wet as it hung heavily over her shoulders.

"Shit, I'm sorry, Regina," Emma muttered nervously. "I'll just…wait out here until you're dressed."

"It's quite all right, dear, besides," she said nonchalantly as she reached for her matching black bra and turned her back to Emma before putting it on. "It's not like you haven't seen me before."

"That was different."

"Was it?"

"It was a dream."

"Was it?" Regina repeated and she cast a quick look back at Emma before deciding to throw her a bone. While it was so very tempting to tease her, Emma still wasn't in the right frame of mind for anything like that. She pulled on a pair of slacks and a dark blue blouse that buttoned up just above the midway point of her cleavage. "You can turn around now, Emma."

"You decent?"

"Yes," she replied and moved to pick up her necklace from inside her small jewellery bag and lifted it to clasp it around her neck just as Emma turned around in the open doorway.

"I'll knock next time."

Regina just smiled tightly before slipping on her only pair of heels she'd packed to bring alone and strolled out of the bedroom to allow Emma to get dressed. She shut the door behind her and leaned up against it, placing a hand over her racing heart as she felt her whole body flush in arousal. She hadn't missed the lust in Emma's eyes when she had walked into the bedroom, nor had she missed it as she strolled out of there with nothing but practiced confidence.

They hadn't even been in the apartment for an entire day and she was already finding it hard to control the lustful thoughts that tried to take over her mind. It wasn't hard for her mind to slip back to the last dream and think of the things that Emma had been doing to her in the moments leading up to when she realized that it was more than a dream. Regina squeezed her thighs together before pushing herself off of the door. She was pacing near the kitchen when Emma emerged a few minutes later, dressed with the towel she'd had wrapped around her body now in her hands and drying her hair.

Their eyes met briefly and it was Emma who looked away first, turning and heading back into the bathroom to finish drying her hair in there. Regina cleared her throat and smoothed her hands down the front of her blouse, tucking it more tightly in to the waistband of her slacks before she checked her phone.

A single text from Henry telling her to not worry about him just brought a smile to her face. She placed her phone in her front pocket of her slacks and turned when she heard the blow dryer blasting in the bathroom. She paced and she paced, stopping only when she heard the blow dryer turn off and only to resume a minute later. By the time Emma emerged, Regina felt like she was on edge, the apartment small and making her feel as if the walls were starting to close in on her.

She definitely needed to do something about the apartment, but it would take time, money, patience and a lot of labour to rid it of memories of Neal, of Robin, Roland and Marian/Zelena. She grit her teeth just thinking of _him_ and while she grieved his death at the hands of the Dark One, she didn't feel that emptiness in her heart she had thought she might feel. She didn't even blame Emma because it was not _her_ who had killed him and the rest of the Merry Men camp.

What she did worry about was Emma's mental state regarding those murders and that of the pirate. She knew it wouldn't be long for those nightmares to start, if they hadn't already begun, but after how soundlessly Emma had slept the night before, she suspected that Emma was doing what she did best and shut those memories out. Time was the only thing that would bring those dark parts to the surface and Regina was all too familiar with the toll that had on ones heart, mind, and soul.

"Hey," Emma said quietly and Regina stopped pacing. "You want to head out? I'll show you around the neighbourhood and we'll head to a place where I know we can get a decent mattress delivered by tonight. Sound good?"

"Yes, of course," Regina smiled at her. "Perhaps we can stop somewhere for breakfast?"

Emma nodded. "Of course. Please tell me you had my favourite jacket packed in my bag? I haven't really looked through everything yet."

"It's in my car."

"The red one?"

"Yes, the red one," Regina replied with a slight roll of her eyes. She grabbed her jacket and slipped it on under Emma's watchful gaze. She pulled out her car keys and held them out towards Emma.

"You want me to drive?"

"You are more experienced with driving in the city than I am."

"Maybe," she shrugged and took the keys anyway. "When Henry and I were here, I hardly drove unless I was on a job. We walked pretty much everywhere, took the subway, cabs sometimes. It's much more practical."

"Then we'll do whatever is more practical," Regina said with a curt nod and led the way out of the apartment. "But first, breakfast."

"Yes, breakfast," Emma laughed before locking the door and handing Regina her keys back. "Breakfast and then we go mattress shopping."

[X]

Thanks to Regina's assertiveness with the salesman at the furniture store, she secured a delivery for the brand new mattress to be delivered the very same day. After they had gone for breakfast at a small café just around the corner from the apartment, they walked the few blocks to the store where Emma spent an obscene amount of time trying out all the different beds. It felt so very domesticated and when the salesman referred to Emma as her partner, she hadn't bothered to correct him.

It took them two and a half hours, give or take, to decide on a mattress they were both happy with. Emma looked pleased with herself as Regina paid for the new mattress and the delivery since it had been one of the ones she'd picked over the one Regina preferred. It was firm, but soft and while Regina preferred a soft bed, Emma liked it to be firm. She wasn't in any mood to argue with her and she determined after Emma talked her into laying on it in front of the salesman, that it would do for the duration of their stay in New York City.

"You know," Emma said as they strolled out of the store together. "I keep thinking about when Henry and I were here."

"A much simpler time for you, I suppose."

"Yeah," Emma shrugged and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her red leather jacket and they walked close down the busy sidewalk. "I never told you this before, but before I got my memories back, I kept having these dreams."

"You are a rather active dreamer, aren't you?"

"Regina," Emma groaned and Regina just bit her bottom lip to keep quiet. "What I was saying was I kept having these dreams about a woman and even when it was happening, I had no idea who she was or why I kept dreaming about her. Do you know who that woman was, Regina?"

"Who? Not some unattainable celebrity or something of the like I hope."

"Well, she is certainly unattainable," Emma replied. "It was you."

"Me?" Regina asked in surprise as she turned to look at her. "You were dreaming of me that year you were here with Henry?"

"Yes, but I didn't realize that until I had my memories back."

"Do I dare question the nature of these dreams?" Regina asked and from the way Emma's cheeks flushed she had her answer. "I see."

"You're a very attractive woman, Regina," Emma muttered and even over the din of the traffic and the people they passed, she heard it loud and clear. "I've always thought so."

"Thank you," Regina replied with a shy smile. "The same goes for you, Emma."

"Me?"

"Yes."

"Me?" Emma repeated and Regina rolled her eyes. "Seriously?"

"Are we _seriously_ having this conversation?" Regina interjected and Emma just laughed and playfully bumped against her side. "Not only do you eat like a child, it's fairly evident that you act like one as well."

"You and I both know that I definitely don't eat like a child," Emma said lowly. "Especially not when I was eating _you_."

"Emma—"

"I know it wasn't for real," she continued quickly and her cheeks were flushed red and her eyes were wide. "I know it was just a dream, but…"

"But?"

Emma shook her head. "Never mind," she stammered. "It's nothing. Forget I was even saying anything at all."

"Hmm, all right."

Regina didn't press on, knowing full well that it wasn't the time or the place. With Emma leading just a half of a step ahead of her, Regina followed her down the busy sidewalk, her feet aching in her heels from being on her feet for the last few hours. She never complained since she loved wearing heels, but they suddenly seemed impractical for the day the two had just been through.

They didn't speak on the way back to the apartment and once inside, Regina immediately slipped out of her heels and left them by the door before walking over to the ratty old sofa to sit down. Emma walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water, waving it towards Regina before retrieving a second one for her. She sighed tiredly and sat down next to Regina as she handed her the cold bottle of water.

"We should get rid of that old mattress," Emma said before twisting off the cap.

"And wash the sheets properly."

"Seemed okay to me," she shrugged and cast a sideways glance at Regina before frowning. "Maybe we should've just bought new sheets?"

"I was willing to splurge on a new mattress, but I am not willing to redecorate this entire apartment. We can make do with whatever else is here."

"After we get boxes and get rid of the clutter?"

Regina groaned quietly. "I knew we were forgetting something."

"We can get them tomorrow," Emma said and Regina just groaned again and lifted her feet up onto the couch. She wasn't the only one who noticed how red they were in spots and not to mention swollen as well. "Put them in my lap," Emma said as she placed her bottle of water on the coffee table.

"What?"

"Your feet?" Emma pointed out. "They look sore."

"And just what are you going to do about that, Emma?"

"Give you a foot rub?"

"You're serious?" Regina asked incredulously. "I'm fine. I don't need a—Emma!" She gasped out in surprise when Emma reached over and pulled her feet until her legs were stretched out on the couch and her feet in Emma's lap. "You are serious."

"When I was younger, I got bored in between jobs and took a class," Emma said and she blew on her hands before moving them to Regina's right foot. "I have strong hands, strong and gentle. Do your feet always hurt when you wear heels? Because I am pretty sure I've never seen you wear anything without a heel before."

"Sometimes," Regina said tightly and watched as Emma began to gently massage her foot. "The pair I wore today, they're fairly new. I'm afraid they aren't broken in yet."

"Stop squirming," Emma said as she grabbed a hold of her ankle. "Just relax, Regina."

"How can I relax when you are rubbing my feet?"

"Is this making you uncomfortable?" Emma asked and Regina shifted on the couch until she was in a much more comfortable position. "I can stop if it is making you uncomfortable, Regina. I just thought that a little foot rub would ease some of the pain."

"This class you took," Regina asked and she had to fight the urge to close her eyes at how _good_ it felt when Emma rubbed her arch in just the right spot where it ached the most. "Was it the only one you took or did you take other classes?"

"I took plenty of classes in between jobs," she replied. "Taking classes helped me play a part when it came to luring and tricking men who were jumping bail or missed a court date. The massage thing was—"

"Just men?"

"There were a few women," Emma replied. "Anyway, the massage thing was because I was bored and there weren't any jobs. I wanted to find something to do with my hands, mostly. I don't know. It's hard to explain."

"I think I understand."

"You know, if you ever want a back massage," Emma said and she lifted her hands away and wiggled her fingers with a slight smirk. "I wouldn't mind."

"Of course you wouldn't," Regina muttered under her breath and poked Emma's thigh with both feet. "Are you going to continue or not?"

"What does that mean?" Emma asked and she resumed her foot rub, moving to the other foot with just one hand while the other idly stroked over the skin just below Regina's ankle. "Regina? I already said I wouldn't mind. I know I'm good at it and I know sometimes you need that relief."

"And you can provide that relief, Emma?"

"Yes," she said confidently. "Open offer, okay?"

"Do you offer all of your friends massages?"

"No," Emma replied quietly. "And I think we're not just friends, Regina."

"What do you mean? Of course we're friends."

"Regina," Emma sighed and she shook her head lightly. "Friends don't share dreams."

"You may be right about that."

"And friends don't share dreams that are sexual in nature either."

"I suppose not."

"Then we're not just friends," Emma whispered. "Right?"

It was a conversation Regina wasn't ready for even though she did want to explore a different side to their ever-changing relationship. It was also a conversation she was sure that would've never happened if it hadn't been for the events that unfolded over the last month. They were friends, but there was something else there, something Regina couldn't put a title to nor was she willing to when even she had no idea what they were.

Regina's silence was her answer and despite wanting to pull her feet out of Emma's lap, she kept them there and closed her eyes as Emma continued to rub over her swollen, sore feet with a gentle yet firm touch that eased away the pain. There was no denying that Emma certainly was good with her hands and it was hard to suppress the small sighs and moans that slipped past her lips whenever Emma's thumb hit the right spot.

"How does it feel?" Emma asked in a small whisper. "Regina?"

"Good," she replied almost breathlessly. "You really are good with your hands."

"Has anyone ever done this for you?"

"What do you think?" Regina asked and she cringed at the way her voice sounded, tight and cold. "Of course not. Nobody ever offered and I never asked."

"Are we ever going to talk about what is going on between us, Regina?"

"Perhaps we will one day, but for now I think you just need to focus on yourself. You're not free of the Dark One just yet, Emma. I wish I had the answers and a way to rid you of it completely, but unfortunately this is far beyond my level of expertise."

"I know," she frowned. "Do you think this was a good idea? Getting out of Storybrooke?"

"Versus staying there while you are out of your own control?"

"I had my moments," Emma replied. "Small ones, but I was getting better at it I think."

"Would you rather we return to Storybrooke?" Regina asked. "Would you give into that risk when we already are quite aware of just what the Dark One is capable of? Would you put the ones you love in danger again?"

"I would never hurt Henry."

"I know."

"Or you," Emma added quietly. "I think even when the Dark One was in control, it wouldn't hurt you the way it hurt others. It may have been playing games with you, but it would never hurt you, Regina."

"You sound so certain of that."

"Christ, Regina, the Dark One kissed you and made a move on you, do you honestly think that it wanted you dead?" Emma asked and her hands stilled, but didn't move away from her feet that still lay over her lap. "Call me crazy, but I think the Dark One trusted you kind of in the same way that I do."

Regina lifted her feet out of Emma's lap and shifted on the couch until she had her legs curled under her body. "I trust _you_ ," she said after a moment. "But I don't trust the Dark One. I know there are going to be moments where we both question whether or not it was the right thing to do in getting you out of Storybrooke and right now I want to believe, more than anything, that it was the right decision."

"Why can't we talk about us?" Emma asked and Regina shook her head. "Why? What are you so afraid of, Regina?"

"Afraid?"

"Yes! Why are you so afraid of talking about what is going on between us?" Emma pressed and Regina shook her head again. "I know you're in love with me," she continued and Regina swallowed thickly, refusing to answer her. "Maybe you don't want to be and I get that, I do. We've been through a lot together and what we're going through now is just a whole other beginning to another chapter in our lives, isn't it? Do you ever think about those dreams we'd had together? About what we talked about?"

Regina refused to look at her and she sighed softly when she felt Emma move to sit closer to her on the ratty old couch. She closed her eyes and exhaled sharply when Emma's hand fell on to her knee.

"What if everything was different?" Emma asked. "What if none of this ever happened? What if I didn't sacrifice myself to save you?" Emma paused and Regina glanced over at her for a split second before looking away again. "We wouldn't be here. Robin and Killian would still be alive. So would all the rest of the ones that I killed."

"You didn't kill them, Emma."

"I did," Emma said and she grasped on to her knee tightly for a moment. "It might not have been me, but I have the memories of it. Memories that haunt me even when I'm wide awake."

Regina knew all too well what that feeling was like as she had experienced it quite often in her early days as the Queen. It had been over time she had learned how to shut those thoughts and memories out of her mind almost completely, but they never failed to haunt her in her dreams.

"You'd still be with him, wouldn't you? If he was alive, you'd still be with him."

"Just as you would with the pirate," Regina replied dryly. "Although I am certain now, if he were still alive, that things would've changed regardless. What I feel for you runs deeply, Emma, and for a long time I have been fighting those feelings."

"Why?"

Regina sighed heavily. "For a lot of reasons," she said softly. "Reasons that should not matter in the least, but they do. Emma, you need to understand why we left Storybrooke. It wasn't for any other reason than to save you even if it isn't saving you completely. I am not here to pursue something with you."

"But we're not just friends," Emma interjected. "I don't think we can ever just be friends."

"I suppose you are right," she admitted and she felt a little defeated, but also conflicted with her thoughts and her emotions at the same time. "I need you to try and focus on just yourself for the time being. Perhaps you should give Archie a call soon and talk to him."

"What if I want to talk to you?"

"Emma, I think you need to talk to him."

"Okay."

"If you would like some privacy, I can strip the bed and see about getting those sheets washed properly before the new mattress is delivered."

"Okay," Emma nodded with a frown. "I'll just go out on the fire escape and call him."

"Okay," Regina said and she rose from the couch. "Do you—"

"I have his number, remember?"

"Of course."

"Do you think Henry would want to talk to me?" Emma asked and Regina nodded without hesitation. "How much does he know, Regina?"

"Enough, but not everything."

"He knows that I killed—"

"Yes."

"Is he angry?"

"Yes, but he also knows that it wasn't _you_ , Emma. Call Archie and if you feel up to it, give Henry a call. Just…be careful of what you say to him, all right?"

Regina didn't stay long enough for Emma to say another word. She headed into the bedroom to strip the bed of the sheets and she used the flat sheet to hold the rest of the sheets and pillowcases and carefully folded it up to carry it down to the laundry room in the basement of the building.

Emma was pacing out on the fire escape when Regina exited the bedroom. She paused to watch her and although the window was open, she couldn't hear her voice over the noise of the traffic coming from the street below. She didn't need to hear what was being said because Emma's emotions were clearly visible. She knew it'd be too easy to give into what she felt for Emma, but she also knew that couldn't happen at the same time.

It was a few hours before Regina spoke with Emma again, but the conversation was completely mundane and Emma seemed to be lost within her own little world. Even when they dragged the old mattress down the stairs, they spoke very little save for Regina instructing Emma to turn this way and that or to slow down before she got herself—or both of them—hurt because of her impatience and suddenly short temper.

They ordered Chinese take-out when they had returned to the apartment and they were nearly finished when the new mattress was delivered. Regina was the first to retire to bed early, unable to watch Emma fidget and pace around the apartment for any longer than what was necessary. She wasn't tired, but she was feeling restless too, but as she lay in the bed and stared up at the ceiling, she allowed her thoughts to run wild for a little while.

She thought of how different things were going to be whether or not there was a way to save Emma. She thought of a life where they could never return to Storybrooke, a life there in New York City together with Henry. She thought of a life once they had found a way to save Emma, a life in Storybrooke that was also together with Henry. Regardless of what would happen in the days, weeks, months and even years to come, Regina knew that Emma would always be a part of her life as much as she would always be a part of hers. It felt like destiny, twisted fate that had intertwined them indefinitely.

It wasn't until Emma finally came to bed a few hours later that Regina didn't feel nearly as restless as she had before. She didn't even utter a word when Emma moved to spoon her and they eventually fell asleep in the same way they had woken up that morning.


	10. Chapter 10

It only took a handful of days before they found a resemblance of a routine there in New York City. While the weather was growing colder, it didn't stop Emma from going out early every morning for a run before she returned to the apartment, showered, and crawled back into bed with Regina, her arms wrapping around her as if she'd never left the bed at all.

Though nothing happened between them physically and despite that each night they fell asleep and woke up in the morning in each other's arms, there was a definite shift in their relationship and one that no longer was brought up by either of them. Emma spoke with Archie every morning while Regina cooked them breakfast in the small kitchen and she always seemed to be on edge when she came back inside.

Regina spoke with Henry almost every day, just as she spoke with David although Emma didn't know she was on the phone with her father since she always made those calls when Emma went on her second run of the day shortly after they ate lunch. Regina had spoken with the Blue Fairy only twice, both times she was given the same answer and that was the fact she had found out nothing that could help Emma in any way.

A week after arriving in New York City, Emma's restlessness was growing worse, and it worried Regina because in all the years she had known her, she had never seen her quite like that. She knew that Emma went running every day, several times a day, just to combat the restlessness, but it wasn't working as it had for the first few days and she was gone longer and longer each time, leaving Regina worried that she may not come back at all.

"Where the hell have you been?" Regina asked when Emma came back three hours after she'd last left. "Well?"

"Out," Emma replied as she kicked the door shut behind her and peeled off her grey hoodie before pulling her hair out of the loose bun she had it tied in. "What?"

"You've been gone for hours."

"I went out for a run," Emma replied and she tossed her hoodie on to the couch. "What is the big deal? You know that's what I do after lunch. I went a little bit further this time. I'm going to hop in the shower, all right?"

Regina clenched her jaw tightly and watched Emma walk over towards the bathroom, her eyes lingering on the way the fabric of her tight sweat pants fit snuggly over her behind. It had been hard to keep her eyes from gazing upon Emma especially in the rare occasion that Emma was blatantly unaware she was staring at her.

She exhaled sharply the moment the bathroom door shut behind Emma and she crossed her legs tightly trying to still the ache between her thighs. The ache had been constant ever since they had fallen asleep in one another's arms the second night they'd been in the city, and the ache never seemed to go away completely, not until Emma was out of the apartment and out on her run.

Regina ran her hands over her thighs, uncrossing her legs as she leaned back in the chair at the small table. When she heard the water running in the shower, she stood up and began to pace around the small room. Every pass over she made across the apartment, she found herself inching closer and closer to the closed bathroom door and she stopped when she just heard faintly a moan coming from the other side of the door. She blinked and wondered if she had imagined it and took a step closer.

She shakily lifted a hand and pressed it against the wood door when she heard another moan much louder than the last but still quiet and muffled by the sounds of the water running in the shower. She worried for a moment that maybe Emma was crying, but when a third moan quickly followed she knew _exactly_ what was happening.

Her skin flushed hot and she had to force herself to back away from the door despite how tempting it was to stay there and listen to Emma pleasure herself in the shower. She ran her fingers through her hair and exhaled sharply once she was far enough away from the bathroom door that she could barely hear the water running at all.

Regina needed a definite distraction, but there was little of that inside the tiny apartment that had become home for both of them. She could leave, but in the week since they'd been in the city, Emma was the only one who left the apartment alone and Regina barely left at all unless it was with her. Even if she wanted to leave, the hard crack of thunder that rumbled through the sky outside would make it for a very wet walk even just to where she parked her car in the lot across the street.

Regina moaned quietly when her thoughts suddenly veered back to the last dream they had shared and how _good_ it had felt with Emma's head between her legs and licking her into pleasurable oblivion. The more she thought about it, the harder it was becoming to control her desires around Emma, but she had to try and she couldn't give in no matter how desperate she was to sate the constant ache between her legs.

She needed to get her mind off of the dream, off of Emma, off of wanting to give in to her desires and needs. There wasn't much in the way to do that inside the small apartment and she'd already scrubbed the entire place clean that morning. She grasped at the front of her blouse, finding it growing uncomfortably warm inside the apartment. She unbuttoned one and then another before fanning herself in an attempt to cool herself down. She stilled when she heard the door open behind her and then the soft creak of the floorboard as Emma stepped out of the bathroom.

"I was thinking maybe we could go out," Emma said and when Regina turned around, it was only to see Emma in the split second before she disappeared into the bedroom.

"Out?"

"Yeah," Emma replied. "We've been cooped up inside this place since we got here and I know of a place we can go out tonight."

Regina bit her bottom lip and ran her fingers over the column of her neck. "And where exactly do you want to go?"

"A place," Emma replied before emerging from the bedroom wearing a pair of flannel pajama bottoms she'd cut off into shorts and a white tank. She rolled her eyes and pulled 'back her wet hair into a loose ponytail. "A bar, Regina."

"You want to go out to a bar?"

"Why not?" She shrugged before making her way over to the refrigerator. "It'll be fun, don't you think? It's been a while since we've gone out drinking together. The last time was when…" Emma trailed off and Regina simply nodded. "Are you in?"

"I suppose," she replied hesitantly. "Yes. Fine. I'm in."

"Awesome."

Regina wasn't sure it'd be a good idea for them to drink together, especially not when her whole body already felt charged with pent up sexual frustration. She could barely control herself around Emma while she was sober and she couldn't imagine what a few drinks would do to her inhibitions. She had never had any problem controlling herself in the past, but things were very different now and in ways she knew she was only bound to find out soon enough.

[X]

Regina wasn't sure what to expect when she and Emma arrived at a rather dodgy looking bar later that night. While the storm that had raged throughout the afternoon had died off, the rain still fell from the sky and she huddled under the umbrella with Emma as they waited in the line to get inside the club with dozens of other women.

The fact that there were only women waiting to get inside the bar raised her suspicions, but she didn't say a word as they reached the front of the line together. The bouncer, a big and beefy woman with a buzz cut gave them the once over before nodding towards the door where Emma quickly guided her inside by reaching for her hand and discarding the umbrella that had barely kept them dry.

Regina's suspicions were further raised upon entering the dimly lit and loud bar. Emma didn't let go of her hand as she weaved them through the dense crowd towards the long bar along the far wall. There were hundreds of women all around them and when Regina caught sight of more than a handful of women kissing, she gripped on to Emma's hand tighter and leaned in close to her.

"Did you bring me to a gay bar?"

"Yes," Emma laughed as she turned to her. "Is that okay with you?"

"Why did you bring me here?"

"Would you rather be hit on by men all night?" Emma asked her and Regina subtly shook her head no. "I didn't think so."

"So, a bar filled with lesbians was your other choice to avoid being hit on by men in favour of being hit on by women?" Regina jabbed and Emma laughed as she let go of her hand and slipped an arm around her waist. "What are you doing?"

"Making sure none of these women hit on you by making you look unavailable."

"I am not—"

"Regina," Emma sighed. "Just go with it, all right? We're here to have a few drinks and to have fun. You are capable of having fun, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Then relax, okay? We'll have a few shots here and then grab a drink. There is a lounge upstairs where it's quieter and less crowded and a little more your thing."

"My thing?"

"Private," Emma whispered into her ear before flagging the bartender down at the crowded bar.

Regina felt out of place and the clothes she'd chosen to wear made her look just as out of place as she felt. Despite Emma's arm still around her waist, she could feel eyes on her and it made her feel uncomfortable when there was once a time where she used to love it when people stared at her when she was a queen.

Emma ordered them two shots of tequila and they downed them in succession before a glass of red wine was placed in front of Regina paired with a mixed drink for Emma next to it. They grabbed their drinks and Emma's arm slipped away from her waist to grab her hand. She glanced back at Regina with a sly smile as they intertwined their fingers and Emma led the way to the stairs that led up to the lounge and away from the dense crowd.

The place itself was certainly not what she had in mind when Emma suggested that they go out that night, but when they arrived in the lounge, it was a completely different atmosphere and certainly less crowded than it was downstairs. Emma led her over to a red couch near the floor to ceiling windows that had a view of the skyline and they removed their jackets before they both sat down.

"Well?"

"Well, what?" Regina asked. "What do I think?"

"Yeah?"

"Definitely not what I expected."

"And what did you expect?"

"Nothing like this," she replied quietly. "Why did you really bring me here tonight, Emma? And don't feed me another line of bullshit like you did down there."

"I was kind of hoping this could be a date."

"A date?" Regina asked with a raised eyebrow. "Honestly, Emma, I—"

"It's not dinner and a movie, I know," Emma said quickly. "I wanted to do something different and I'm not good at these things, you know? We eat dinner together every day now and we've been watching Netflix after dinner some nights. So, I thought this would be…different and more like a date."

"I see."

"I would've asked you properly," Emma continued and she glanced shyly down at the glass in her hand. "But I think you would've said no if I did."

"I may have, but then again, I may have said yes."

"Really?"

"I guess you'll never know because you never asked," Regina replied with a teasing smile that made Emma shyly chew at her bottom lip.

"You're different, Regina."

"How?"

"I don't know, you just are," Emma said quietly and she shifted on the red couch to sit closer to her. "It's like I'm seeing a whole new side of you."

"And I you."

Emma smiled and casually draped her arm around the back of the couch behind Regina's shoulders. "If nothing changed a month ago, if I didn't…save you, we wouldn't even be here, would we?"

"Literally or figuratively?"

"Both?"

"Perhaps not," Regina sighed softly. "Can we do one thing tonight?"

"Anything."

"Can we just forget about the mess in our lives and pretend as if we are—"

"Two women out on a date?" Emma suggested with a brazen wiggle of her eyebrows that caused Regina to chuckle lowly. "Okay. We can do that, but I want something in return."

"I am not having sex with you tonight."

"That is not what I was going to ask you, Gina," Emma laughed and leaned in closer to her. "I just want a kiss."

Regina could feel her breath hot on her cheek and she swallowed thickly before lifting her glass to her lips to take a sip of her wine. Regina lowered her glass and turned her head slightly, her eyes flicking down to Emma's lips before she closed the small gap between them and kissed her lightly. Her heart was hammering in her chest when she pulled back a few seconds later and she glanced around as her cheeks flushed in case someone had seen them.

"We're in a lesbian bar," Emma whispered into her ear. "Nobody is going to stare at us if that's what you're worried about."

"Of course not."

"Is this okay?" Emma whispered before moving her lips down to kiss along her neck.

"Y—yes."

She wasn't sure how they got to be in such an intimate position, but maybe it was the setting and the shots they'd had down at the bar a handful of minutes before. The throb between her thighs was back once more and she crossed her legs and leaned into Emma a little more, loving the soft, lingering kisses she placed along her neck just below her ear. She could feel her whole body heating up in arousal and she subtly pulled back, putting a halt to their rather intimate moment.

Suddenly she was wishing they were back at the apartment because it was growing increasingly impossible to hold back from kissing Emma the way she so craved. She sipped her wine and shifted on the couch, tensing a little when Emma's arm moved to rest over her shoulders. She relaxed when she felt Emma's began to subtle twirl the ends of her hair around her fingertips.

"Do you want to dance?"

"You want to dance?" Regina asked in surprise. "With me?"

"I asked, didn't I?" Emma grinned. "I know we've never danced together before, but I was thinking that tonight could be full of firsts for us."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah."

"Maybe after we have another drink," Regina replied quietly. "Or two."

Regina hadn't expected Emma to make a move on her so early into the night, but then again she wasn't sure what to expect at all. Emma had mentioned that she seemed different and while that may be true, she knew that Emma seemed to be a lot different as well. She knew it was a whole host of reasons why, but the biggest factor was the fact they had spent the last week together almost every waking minute of the day save for the few hours Emma went out on her runs, and they slept together in the same bed every night and never once talked about how they slept in one another's arms all night long.

In some ways she had closed herself off to Emma, built up walls around her to keep her from getting too close, but in other ways and even with the walls she'd built up, Emma still got in under her skin. She wanted to give in to her desires, her needs, she wanted to give in to Emma, and she was losing that fight rather quickly.

Yet in other ways she had opened herself up to Emma that she had never done with anyone else in her life before. It both scared and intrigued her to no end.

She downed the last of her wine and glanced at Emma in surprise when Emma took her empty glass out of her hand and placed it on the glass coffee table in front of them. Emma rose a moment later and held out a hand towards her with a wink, and when Regina took it, she found herself being whisked away with Emma's arms wrapped firmly around her and their lips just a hairsbreadth apart.

Though the music wasn't as loud as it was downstairs, it was loud enough to dance to and they weren't the only ones either. Other women began to couple off and joined them in the small space between the couches and chairs. Emma just smiled at Regina when she loosely draped her arms over Emma's shoulders. They moved slowly to the fast beat of the music, dancing to their own song while staring into one another's eyes.

"Was this what you had in mind when you thought you'd spring the idea of this being a date?" Regina asked.

"Maybe."

"Sometimes I think I know you," she said with a shake of her head. "But then I realize that I don't really know you at all, do I, Emma?"

"You know me better than anyone else."

"Do I?"

"Yes."

"Well if there is something that I do know, it is this," Regina drawled and she moved a hand down to place it on Emma's forearm just as her hands began to slide down from her hips to grasp at her ass. "You best keep your hands in respectable places, Swan."

"Oh?" Emma looked at her with a challenging glint in her eyes. It was one she'd seen before, but there was something more playful about the way she looked at her. "And if I don't?" Emma asked and she moved her other hand down and gave her ass a quick squeeze before pulling Regina flush against her.

Despite her failed protest, Regina laughed and trailed her hand up Emma's arm and she linked her hands behind Emma's neck, their bodies still swaying slowly to the quick beat of the music. It was easy to forget about the rest of the world, to lose herself in Emma. It was easy to forget why they had left Storybrooke and all the things that had happened there after Emma had sacrificed herself to save Regina from certain death.

And it was easy to lose herself in thoughts of kissing Emma once more and letting go of a fight she was already losing against herself.

Regina wasn't sure how long they danced and swayed in each other's arms, but it didn't matter at all to her in the least. It felt as if they had all the time in the world and she liked the relief that came with her thoughts and worries not constantly hounding her. When Emma stepped out of their embrace first, neither said a word as they walked over to where they left their jackets and slipped them on. Emma reached for her hand, intertwining their fingers gently before leading her down the stairs. She paid their small tab on the way out.

The rain hadn't stopped and the umbrella they had discarded just outside the door was no longer there. Emma didn't let go of her hand as they rushed out onto the sidewalk, running in the rain across the street until they took cover under a closed shops awning. Emma just laughed before she turned to look at Regina.

"Some date this is turning out to be," Emma said quietly before she reached up to gently cup Regina's face with both hands. "Kiss me?"

"Emma—"

"Please?"

"You don't need to ask," Regina murmured quietly and without waiting a second longer, she closed the gap as she had before and kissed Emma softly. She pulled back before the kiss became something more and she shook her head. "Let's go home."

"We won't be able to catch a cab in this rain."

"It's not far."

"We're going to get soaked."

"Then we'll run," Regina smiled and she reached for Emma's hand, this time leading the way.

They ran down the sidewalk, the rain soaking quickly through their clothes, and every time they stopped to seek shelter, they shared a kiss, each one becoming longer than the last, but still kept each one chaste as Regina didn't allow Emma to deepen each kiss. With the building in sight, Emma just grinned and took the lead, the two of them sprinting across the street and into the building, laughter echoing as the door slammed shut behind them.

Regina could feel something shifting inside of her and it was a feeling she hadn't felt in longer than she could remember. She felt free, free from her past, free from the pain that still lingered, free from the troubles they had both faced most recently, but she also felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Although it was temporary and the feeling was fleeting, she grasped on to it with everything she had and she wasn't going to let go just yet.

Once they were past the locked gated door, Regina led the way up the stairs, holding on to Emma's hand tightly as her body burned with arousal. Her hand was shaking when they reached the door and she slid the key into the lock. The moment they passed the threshold, Regina no longer could hold herself back and she pushed Emma up against the door, slamming it shut as their lips crushed together in a heated, hungry kiss.

Emma's hands were immediately pushing down her rain soaked jacket and Regina moaned and sucked on Emma's lower lip as she struggled to help her get the jacket off. Her hands went to the lapels of Emma's leather jacket and Emma kissed her deeply just as her jacket hit the floor with a soft, wet thud. She was caught by surprise when Emma spun them around and pressed her up against the wall while helping her remove her soaked red jacket.

"It's going to ruin," Regina murmured against her lips. Emma just shook her head and kissed her again as her leather jacket landed on top of Regina's at their feet. Despite her telling Emma earlier that she wasn't having sex with her tonight, she was starting to doubt that she had the self-control to keep that from happening, especially if Emma continued to kiss her so deeply, so thoroughly. "Emma…"

"Hmm?" Emma leaned back a little and licked over her lower lip as a smile curled over them. "What is it, Gina?"

She shivered at the low, raspy tone of Emma's voice when she said her name and she shivered again because her wet clothes were clinging to her skin and making her feel cold despite the growing heat between them.

"We need to…get out of these cl—clothes."

"Are you cold?"

"Yes."

Emma planted a soft kiss to her lips before reaching for both of her hands. "No other reason you want to get out of our clothes?"

"Emma…"

"I don't normally do this on a first date, but for you I can make an exception."

"Em—"

She was cut off by Emma's lips on hers and she moaned in surprise when Emma's hands slid down across her backside firmly before she picked her up and carried her the last few steps into the bedroom. Emma let her back down to her feet and Regina broke away from the kiss first. She kicked off her heels and watched Emma struggle to get out of her boots without falling over. She bit her bottom lip at how adorable Emma looked when she was frustrated. When Emma finally had her boots off, she grinned in triumph and just placed her hands on her hips and stared at Regina, waiting for her to make the next move first.

Regina moved her fingers to the buttons of her blouse and even knowing the shirt was ruined, she took her time at unbuttoning each of the delicate buttons while holding on to Emma's lustful gaze. The only light that shone through was the one coming from outside the bedroom, but neither moved to turn on the bedside lamp as Emma reached out and pulled Regina into her arms once again.

They didn't break away from their intense gaze and Regina moved her fingers to the edge of Emma's white long sleeved shirt. The material stuck to her skin as Regina eased the hem up over her smooth, flat abdomen, her eyes flicking down to the exposed skin just for a moment before she locked her eyes with Emma's green ones. Her hands skimmed over her skin as she continued to lift the shirt up and when her thumbs skirted over the edges of Emma's bra, Emma stepped back a little and pulled the shirt off the rest of the way.

"Not yet," Regina murmured quietly when Emma's hands went to her back to unclasp her bra. "Wait."

"Wait?"

"Yes, wait."

Emma smiled shyly before she moved her fingertips to the collar of Regina's ruined blouse. With a small nod of her head, she allowed Emma to slip the wet fabric off of her body and they were kissing again before it even hit the floor. Regina was tentative to touch her at first, but as she smoothed her hands down Emma's back, she became a little bolder as the seconds passed. She trailed her nails lightly over the small of Emma's back and along the hem of her too tight jeans, eliciting a small moan past Emma's lips that vibrated against her own.

The second moan that followed when she slid her hands over the curve of Emma's pliable ass was what made her kiss her harder, deeper, until they both lost their balance and toppled down onto the bed together. Regina laughed as she leaned back and stared down at Emma. With a shake of her head, she dipped her head back down to deliver a sensually sweet kiss to her lips before they moved up to the middle of the bed together.

"We're going to get the bed wet," Emma whispered against her lips before she rolled them over and Regina groaned quietly. "What? Not used to being a bottom, Gina?"

"Not at all."

"You were sometimes," she whispered. "In those dreams of ours."

"Only sometimes," she whispered back and she closed her eyes as Emma's lips moved to trail a blazing path down her neck. Regina focused on each press of Emma's lips to her skin. Her eyes shot open the moment Emma's fingers traced over a hardening nipple over her black lace bra. "Emma…"

Emma's mouth suddenly was wrapped around the semi-erect nipple, sucking it through the thin lace and caused her to arch her back and moan loudly into the quiet of the room. She lifted her eyes and forced open her eyes, watching with bated breath as Emma pulled back from her breast and moved her fingers along the edge of the right cup before pulling it down to expose her hardening nipple to her heady, hungry eyes.

Emma teased the tip of her tongue over it and Regina shuddered at the touch. She raked her nails over Emma's shoulders lightly and threw her head back the moment Emma's lips wrapped around her nipple and sucked hard. She bucked up slightly when she felt Emma's hand trailing down her abdomen and she lifted her head by placing a finger under her chin.

"Emma," she whispered softly.

"Is this okay?"

Regina gasped when she felt Emma's hand cup over her cunt, a finger easily rubbing over her clit, and the friction of her panties against her sensitive flesh was making her squirm and crave for more. She pulled Emma in for another kiss, not wanting to stop kissing her, needing to feel her lips and tongue against her own almost desperately.

Emma didn't linger for long and she was quick to move to kneel between her partially spread legs, her hand that was between them moving to the clasp of her slacks as her lips trailed hot, open mouthed kisses along the skin below her navel. Just as Emma began to slide her slacks down over her hips, she started to panic.

"Emma," she whispered urgently, but Emma just hummed lightly against her skin and continued to tug the pants down her hips. "Emma, stop."

"Stop?" Emma lifted her head and looked up at her in confusion. "Regina—"

"No," Regina said and Emma moved away slowly. "We need to slow down."

"Okay."

"We got a little bit out of control," Regina said shakily. "We—we can't do this, Emma."

"Okay," Emma sighed dejectedly. "Uh, right," she moved off the bed and shook her head as she turned her back to her. "I guess I'll just jump in the shower, unless you want to—"

"No, go ahead," Regina said quickly and she groaned quietly the moment Emma practically ran out of the bedroom. "Gods," she murmured as she buried her face into her hands.

She wanted to be with Emma, her body craved that intimate touch, but she was still fighting that war within herself and despite nearly losing it, her conscious had come back swinging in full force to put a halt to things before they went too far. Regina waited until she heard the water running in the shower before she eased up off the bed and stripped out of the rest of her clothes. She slipped on her robe and tied it tight before walking out to the kitchen to put the kettle on.

While she waited for the water to boil, she picked up their wet jackets and hung them from the coat rack. She frowned when she reached into her jacket pocket to pull out her phone and saw that she had several missed calls that had came in throughout the evening. She had turned the phone on silent, not wanting to be disturbed on her night out with Emma, but when she listened to the voicemail from the Blue Fairy and heard the urgency in her voice when she asked for her to call her back immediately, she wished she had answered the call when it came through.

The second voicemail was from David that came shortly after Blue had called and he had the same desperation in his voice and said that they had finally found a way to help Emma, to save her from the Dark One that was residing inside of her. The third voicemail was from Blue again, telling her to call no matter how late it was when she got the message. Regina wasn't sure what they had found, but a part of her didn't want to know. Not until the next morning when her head was a little bit clearer than it was in that very moment.

The kettle whistled loudly, jarring her a little, and she placed her phone down on the table before she took the kettle off the burner and retrieved a mug and a bag of tea. She only just finished pouring the hot water into the mug when her phone started to ring. She placed the kettle down on stove and grabbed her phone, glancing quickly at the caller ID before she answered the call.

"Blue, I was just about to give you a call back," Regina said evenly. "You sounded urgent when you called earlier."

_"Yes,"_ Blue replied. _"I know how we can help Emma."_

"I'm listening," Regina said as she cast her eyes towards the closed bathroom door. "What did you find, Blue?"

_"A temporary solution that can allow her to be in Storybrooke. Safely."_

Regina blinked as it wasn't the answer she was expecting to hear, but she also feared of what she was going to be told next. "Temporary?"

_"A spell,"_ Blue replied. _"One that can disconnect Emma and the Dark One."_

"How?"

_"By splitting them,"_ Blue said quietly. _"There won't be just one Emma in Storybrooke, there'll also be the Dark One in a copy of her body, so to speak. I believe we may be able to rid the Dark One from this world and all the others for good."_

"How do you propose we do that?"

_"By finding a way to kill it,"_ Blue replied. _"But, there is a risk. I am not sure if it will harm Emma or not. The question is, Regina, are you willing to take that risk to save Emma?"_


	11. Chapter 11

_"But, there is a risk. I am not sure if it will harm Emma or not. The question is, Regina, are you willing to take that risk to save Emma?"_

Regina was willing to do whatever it took to save Emma, but to put her very life at risk wasn't something she was willing to jump into lightly. "I want to save her," Regina said quietly. "More than anything, Blue, but I am not sure if I want to risk her life to do that. Are you certain there isn't another way?"

_"As of now, without being able to speak with the Sorcerer, this is the only way."_

"Is there not a way to get to Camelot to find the Sorcerer?"

_"There may just be,"_ Blue replied tentatively. _"But neither you or I are powerful enough to wield the wand that was found in the Apprentice's possession."_

"There was a wand in his possession?" Regina asked. "There is a wand and I'm only now just being made aware of this?"

_"Regina, there is nobody powerful enough to make it work, but—"_

"But?" Regina snapped. "There is another way to use this wand, isn't there?"

_"It contains enough power to enact the spell needed to split Emma and the Dark One's soul, to separate them. I cannot do that if Emma is not in Storybrooke."_

"Of course not."

_"When will you return?"_

"We'll leave in the morning," Regina replied, keeping her voice low. "I am not going to tell her what we are going to do, not yet, not until we're back in Storybrooke. You do realize, the moment we cross the town line, Emma will no longer be in control of herself, don't you?"

_"Yes,"_ Blue sighed. _"I'm well aware, which is why I am going to be prepared to enact the spell the moment she crosses back into Storybrooke. I was informed to clear this with you before I begin to gather the necessary items needed to perform the spell. Emma's life has been left in your hands, Regina. I hope you know what that means."_

"I know exactly what that means," she said tightly. "Get what you need," she said after a moment. "I'll call you when we're near the town line."

Regina ended the call and placed her phone on the counter before turning her attention back to her cup of tea. She had only just finished pouring in a little milk before she felt Emma's arms wrap around her from behind.

"I'm sorry," Emma whispered into her ear. "I'm sorry if I went too far earlier."

"You don't need to apologize."

"I know. I still am sorry though. You aren't ready and I should've respected that."

She wanted to tell her it wasn't a matter of being ready to make that step in their relationship, but she couldn't as she lost herself in the sensation of Emma holding her close and her lips brushing softly over the side of her neck.

"Who were you just talking to?"

"Blue," Regina replied hesitantly. "She called earlier while we were out."

"Oh?"

Regina finished stirring the milk in before removing the tea bag and placing it in the sink. She turned in Emma's arms and glanced down at what she was wearing. A sly smirk curled over her lips when she saw she wore nothing but a tight white tank top and her red panties, likely one and the very same when she had answered the door that morning when she had first been in Storybrooke.

"We are going to return home tomorrow," Regina said and her hands found their way easily to rest on Emma's hips. "Please don't ask me to explain right now, because I am not so sure that I can yet."

"Did she find a way?"

"Possibly," she said with a small nod. "It's not for sure," she continued and she ran her thumbs over Emma's hips and slipped them just under the hem of her shirt to glide them along her soft, warm skin. "But it is far more than where we were before when it came to finding a solid answer on how to save you."

"Okay."

"Okay?" Regina echoed and Emma nodded. "You're okay with knowing only that much?"

"You'll tell me when we're almost home," Emma said and she leaned her forehead against Regina's and sighed softly. "I'm afraid."

"Of what?"

"Of what will happen once we're back in Storybrooke and I am not talking about me and the fact that I still have the Dark One's essence inside of me. I am talking about you. About us."

"Emma, I don't know what you want me to say," Regina whispered. "This past week with you has been not at all what I expected."

"What did you expect?"

"I have absolutely no idea," Regina replied and she cracked a smile before rubbing at Emma's hips in an attempt to reassure her. "We've been through so very much together, Emma, and while things are changing between us as I believe they have been for quite some time, we will get through this too. Together."

"As friends?" Emma asked and she moved her hands to where Regina's robe parted just over her breasts. "Or as something else?"

"We will need to take it one day at a time, my love," Regina said as she moved to kiss over Emma lips lightly. "And we've been well past just being friends for a while now, haven't we?"

"Yeah."

"It won't be easy."

"Of course not, but when is anything in life ever worth it if you don't have to fight for it?"

Regina smiled at her again. This was the side of Emma she had fallen in love with and continued to fall in love with over and over again. This was the side of Emma that she needed in her life and she was going to fight with everything she had to make sure that she saved Emma and saved the part of her soul that had yet to be touched by the darkness.

"You are worth it," Regina said as she held her gaze with Emma's wandering one. "You are so completely worth fighting for, Emma."

"You are too, Regina," Emma smiled sweetly at her, but it faded rather quickly. Regina shook her head and tried to hold Emma's wavering gaze. "I have to face what I've done eventually and I'm not sure that I can."

"You can."

"What if I can't?" Emma whispered tearfully. "What if I can't escape the darkness of what I have done? I have…I'm a murderer, Regina."

"That wasn't you."

"I killed before I became the Dark One."

"You were protecting our son," Regina said firmly. "It doesn't make it right, but you are not a murderer, Emma. You're not."

"How did you deal with everything you've ever done? How did you get past that, Regina? How did you chase the nightmares away?"

"I'm still a long way to go from redemption, darling," she whispered. "I have never been able to chase the nightmares away either, not until…"

"Until we got here?"

"Until you were there by my side at night," she finished and Emma nodded as tears began to fill her eyes. "I know that you haven't had any nightmares since we've been here and it's not only because we are not in Storybrooke, Emma."

"It's you. It's us, together. We're stronger together."

"Indeed we are," Regina smiled and she kissed away the tears as they fell down Emma's cheeks. "Emma, everything will be all right. You'll see. We have made it this far, haven't we? Don't cry, darling."

"I'm afraid," Emma whispered. "I'm afraid of what is going to happen when we go back to Storybrooke."

"I know," Regina sighed and she wrapped her arms around her tightly. "Come on, let me make you some tea and we'll go to bed shortly."

"Okay."

Regina worried her bottom lip as she made Emma a cup of tea. She was afraid of what was going to happen too once Emma crossed the town line. She was afraid that Blue wouldn't be able to do the spell quick enough and that the Dark One would take immediate control the moment Emma stepped over that line. She was afraid of what would happen to them, to their ever-evolving relationship, if they couldn't rid Emma of the Dark One's essence. She was afraid Emma would end up dead and she would lose her regardless of wanting to do nothing more than to save her.

There were obstacles they were about to face, most of which Regina herself wasn't prepared for entirely. She had to put her trust in the Blue Fairy because it was either that or never return to Storybrooke. It was their home, it was where their son had grown up, and it was where Emma's family was. Not going back was not a viable option at all and even Regina was beginning to miss the feeling of her magic inside of her. She had gone twenty-eight years without it before, but she wasn't sure she could go that long without it ever again.

They didn't speak while they drank their tea at the kitchen table and when Regina headed into the bathroom to take a shower, Emma retreated to bed, but not before they shared a soft, lingering kiss good night. Regina was quick to shower and to dry her hair before she changed into her pajamas in the darkness of the bedroom. She crawled into the bed next to Emma, and as she had most nights, she didn't relax until Emma's arms were around her and then she could finally succumb to the gentle pull of sleep.

[X]

"You know, we should come to the city a little more often, bring Henry, maybe buy one of those fold-a-way beds he can sleep on," Emma said as she slung their bags into the trunk of the car. "It'd be nice to get out of Storybrooke once in awhile, don't you think?"

"Yes, of course it would be nice. We'll definitely have to start planning some of the long weekends away," Regina smiled at her and she pulled her coat tight around her as the wind picked up. "It'd be a shame to waste the apartment if we never come to the city."

"Maybe next time I can take you around the city, show you some of the sights," Emma smiled and she slammed the trunk shut. "Henry and I used to loved going to the museums and to the zoo in Central Park."

"That sounds lovely, Emma."

"Yeah? You'd want to come with us?"

"Of course I would," Regina smiled back at her and pulled her keys out of her pocket. "Shall we get on the road? I'd like to make it back to Storybrooke before it gets too late."

Her attempt to leave before nine that morning had already been delayed—twice—and she certainly couldn't blame Emma for trying to put off the inevitable. First it was breakfast, which Emma insisted they go to the café down the street that just happened to be extremely busy, and then Emma wanted to run down the street to bring some fresh bagels home for Henry and to get a couple of bear claws for the drive home.

Emma seemed hesitant to get into the Mercedes, but she did anyway. Once Regina was in the driver's seat, she reached over for her hand and gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. Emma just pulled her hand free and leaned up against the door with a blank gaze staring dead ahead. Regina pulled out of the parking spot and out of the lot, merging into the busy traffic that never seemed to die down.

It took over two hours just to get out of the city and even then the interstate was nothing but bumper-to-bumper traffic. Still, Emma hadn't said a word since she'd gotten into the car and every time Regina did glance over at her, she saw the same blank gaze upon her face and she had barely moved an inch since they had left.

The silence between them, save for the radio that was playing quietly, gave Regina plenty of time with her thoughts and none of which she wanted to dwell on in the least. Almost four hours into their journey home, they were not even halfway to Boston and the traffic on the interstate didn't seem to lessen at all. Regina got off at the next chance and found a gas station a block away. She filled the tank, unaware that Emma had left the car at all until she ducked her head inside the open driver's side window.

"Damn it, Swan," Regina groaned and she grabbed her purse and made her way to the gas bar to pay for the tank and to look for Emma.

The small gas bar was empty and she scanned the aisles quickly before walking over the register where the cashier, a teenaged boy with shaggy hair and a face full of pimples was more interested in his phone than in her.

"Excuse me?" Regina asked as she rapped her knuckles on the counter in front of him. "Have you seen a blonde-haired woman come through in the last few minutes?"

"Uh?" The boy scratched at the back of his head. "She asked for a key to the bathroom. I advised her not to, but she took it anyway."

"Where?"

"Around back," he shrugged. "You gonna pay now or what?"

Regina sighed and took out the credit card she very rarely had to use. He took the car and glanced at it, furrowing his brow before trying to swipe it on the debit machine. Each time he did, a low beep sounded and he tried again.

"You got any cash, lady?"

"Ma'am," Regina corrected him. "How much?"

"Fifty and change."

"How much?" She repeated as she opened up her wallet. "Fifty and change is not acceptable."

"Fifty bucks and seventy-three cents, lady—ma'am."

Regina pulled out a few bills and resisted the urge to throw it at him. "Around back, you said?" She asked and he just nodded dumbly and she didn't even bother to wait for her change before she was out the door and heading around to the back of the small building. She stopped when she reached a door with the word "washroom" spray painted over it messily. "Emma?" Regina called out and she banged on the door a few times. "Emma, are you in there?"

Regina had to resist the urge to try to kick down the door when Emma didn't answer. She wasn't even positive that Emma was even in there at all and for all she knew she could've taken off to avoid returning to Storybrooke. A part of her couldn't blame her if she had, but after a few minutes passed, she door opened and Emma stepped out.

"If you got to go, I wouldn't. It's pretty nasty in there."

"Emma, are you all right?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Emma."

"Is the tank full?" Emma asked and Regina just nodded. "Then lets go. You wanted to be back in Storybrooke before it gets dark, right? We've got a whole hell of a lot of miles to cover before dark."

"Emma—"

"Let me know if you get too tired to drive and I'll take over, all right?" Emma cut her off and she stalked towards the Mercedes without looking back. When she reached the passenger side, she looked over at Regina. "Well? You coming or not, Gina?"

Regina shook her head and followed Emma back to the car. She got in behind the wheel and slammed the driver's door shut before turning to look at Emma with a raised eyebrow. "What were you doing?"

"What do you mean?" Emma asked as she picked at her short nails. "I had to go to the bathroom and well, if you saw the state of it, you'd need a pep talk too."

Something about the way Emma fidgeted told her that wasn't the only reason she'd ran off to the dirty gas bar bathroom. She chose not to raise more of a concern since she was really not in the mood to start bickering with Emma when they had a long drive ahead of them. Instead, she flashed a forced smile at Emma before pulling out of the lot and back out on to the road.

"Hey, stick to the back roads for a while," Emma said before she pulled out her phone and brought up the maps app. "The interstate is going to be backed up for miles."

"And you are going to trust that app to not let us get turned around?"

"Hasn't failed me yet."

Regina sighed and came to a stop at the stop sign. "Which way?"

"Uh," Emma trailed off while studying the map. "Left."

Regina fought the urge to roll her eyes. It was going to be a lot longer of a drive than anticipated and with the odd way that Emma was acting since before they even left, it was going to feel a long longer than it would be.

[X]

An hour outside of Storybrooke, Regina rubbed at the back of her neck, her muscles sore and stiff from sitting in the same position for nearly eight and a half hours. Emma, as before, didn't say a word unless it was directing her to another road or back on to the interstate. And just as before, it gave Regina plenty of time to think.

She thought about her relationship with Emma over the years, from the first night they had met all the way to where they had been just the night before. While they had gotten out of control, Regina had wanted more, but she knew stopping that from happening had been the right thing to do. More than once over the eight and a half hours of next to near silence in the car, save for the radio playing quietly, she had to squirm in her seat to alleviate the arousal that coursed through her body.

"Regina, stop the car," Emma said suddenly, sounding panicked as she reached out to grab onto Regina's forearm. The move caused Regina to swerve on the road. "Regina, stop the car!"

"Emma, what is it?" Regina asked. "Why do you—"

"Stop the damn car!"

"Let go of me this instant before I crash and kill us both!"

"Then stop the car right now, Regina!"

Regina pulled her arm out of Emma's tight grip before easing her foot on to the gas and pulled the car to a stop on the gravel shoulder. Emma was breathing heavily and already had the door open before the car came to a complete stop. Regina struggled to shift the gear into park and get out of the car to run after Emma in to a small clearing in the dense woods.

"Emma, stop!" Regina called out. "Stop running!"

Emma didn't respond, but she did stop running before she disappeared into the trees on the other end of the clearing. Regina caught up with her and stopped just a half a foot away. When Emma turned around, she had tears streaming down her cheeks and she was shaking. Regina just wrapped her arms around her and guided her head to the crook of her neck while rubbing a hand soothingly over her back.

"What's wrong?"

"I—I can't go back."

"Emma—"

"I can't go back, Regina. I can't."

"Why not?"

"You know the moment I step over the town line that I'm not going to be…me anymore. I am going to be the Dark One and I can already feel how angry it is the closer we get."

Regina had the same fears, but it was more based around the spell that the Blue Fairy was planning on doing the very moment that Emma stepped across that line. Emma struggled against her, but it was weak and when Regina allowed her to lean back a little, she brought up her hands to cup Emma's face and to wipe away at the tears on her cheeks. She shook her head and leaned in to place a soft kiss to Emma's forehead.

"I know you are afraid of what will happen, but I assure you that it's going to be taken care of, Emma."

"How?" Emma asked. "How is it going to be taken care of, Regina?"

"Do you trust me?"

"I do."

"Then I need you to get back into the car, Emma."

"No," Emma said roughly. "I am not getting back in the car until you tell me what you aren't telling me. What is going to happen when I cross the town line, Regina?"

Regina sighed and took a step back from Emma. It was already beginning to grow dark and they should've already reached Storybrooke's town line hours ago. She told her only what she knew that the Blue Fairy had told her the night before. Emma just shook her head and fought her tears as she kept her hands at her sides with her fists balled tightly.

While Regina didn't know the details, at least not as of yet since she still had to make that phone call when they were near the town line, she told Emma exactly what had been said in their conversation.

"You trust her, Regina?"

"Do I have a choice?" Regina asked. "Right now, there is no other way."

"I don't want to believe that."

"You have to, Emma, because I spent weeks looking and found nothing. Nothing."

Emma stalked off quickly, but thankfully it was in the direction of the Mercedes. Regina waiting for a moment before following her back to the car, but neither of them got in. Emma was still shaking as she paced along the road and Regina walked around to the driver's side of the car and leaned up against it.

"Your parents trust her, isn't that enough?" Regina asked and it caused Emma to slightly falter in her steps and she shrugged. "You know we can't stay away forever. Even if we did, the Dark One is still inside of you."

"You think that I don't know that?" Emma snapped. "I thought—when I saved you from it killing you, Regina, I thought that it wouldn't be this hard. I saw the Apprentice remove it from Gold and I thought…maybe you could find a way."

"I tried, Emma."

"I know you did!" Emma cried out and she shook her head furiously. "I know you—"

"Don't you dare tell me that I didn't try hard enough, Emma," Regina said through gritted teeth. "I did everything I could. I tried to—"

"I know!" Emma shouted at her. "I know you did, Regina. I know!"

"Emma," Regina sighed and she hesitated to reach out for her. "Get in the car, please."

"What if it fails?" Emma asked. "What if she fails? What if she's not quick enough to cast that spell?"

"You need to have a little bit more faith than that."

"Do you?"

"I have to," she replied. "I need you to do that too, even if only a little."

Emma shook her head and it was only then that Regina took those few steps forward and reached out to grab a hold of Emma's hands. She expected Emma to pull back immediately considering the state that she was in, but Emma didn't pull back to pull away, she pulled her hands free from hers and enveloped her in a tight embrace.

"Regina?"

"Hmm?"

"If this works," Emma murmured into her neck softly, "can I stay with you for a little while? Just in case?"

"Of course you can."

Emma pulled back a little with a shy smile curling over her lips. "Yeah?"

"Yes," Regina smiled back at her before leaning in to place a soft kiss upon her lips.

"Do you have a way to stop me if I—"

"Emma, I assure you that everything is going to be fine. There will be no need for me to lock you up in an enchanted cell or slip the leather cuff on you to render you powerless."

"Do you have that potion?" Emma asked. "The one you used before to get me out of Storybrooke. Can you use it again?"

"I have one vial in my purse," Regina replied. "If that is what you want, then that is what we can do, but not before we're about to cross the town line, all right?"

Emma nodded and with one last small kiss shared between them, they returned to the car together. They drove in silence for nearly forty minutes before Regina called the Blue Fairy to tell her they were close. They spoke briefly and after Regina was convinced that Blue would be able to handle the spell on her own, she explained the plan to use the potion on Emma to knock her out temporarily before they crossed the town line. She even had the call on speaker so Emma could hear everything that Blue had to say for herself, but she didn't utter a single word as she found the vial in Regina's purse and clutched it tightly in her right hand.

Regina drove on after ending the call with the Blue Fairy. The tension was growing, not just within themselves, but between them as well. Regina turned to glance over at Emma several times, but Emma not once met her gaze.

"Use it now," Regina said as she motioned to the potion vial in Emma's now open palm.

"Now?"

"Yes, Emma," she said quietly. "Now."

"Wait," Emma said and she reached out to place a hand on Regina's shoulder. "Stop the car, Regina, please."

"Emma—"

"Please," Emma trembled and Regina eased her foot on the brake and shifted the gear into park. "I don't know if I can do this."

"Emma, everything is going to be okay."

"Is it?"

Regina nodded even though she had her own fears of the Dark One overpowering the potion and disappearing before the spell to extradite its soul from Emma's could be enacted. She clenched her jaw tightly and kept her gaze locked with Emma's and felt a shiver run down her spine when Emma licked over her bottom lip slowly.

"I could use this on you," she murmured quietly. "I could knock you out with this potion and run."

"Then why don't you?"

"Because I can't," Emma sighed. "I can't run. I can't leave Henry or my parents," she whispered and she moved the hand on her shoulder to cup the back of Regina's neck and she smiled a little. "And I can't leave you either."

Regina understood her struggle and she wanted to give her as much time as she could until she felt ready, but that would never come. Emma was far from being ready and her fear was at an all time high. Regina just leaned forward to kiss her softly, their lips lingering for a moment or two before Emma pulled back and let go.

"I trust you," Emma said as she pulled the small cork off the vial. "I trust you to keep me safe and if it doesn't work, Regina, I trust you to do what needs to be done."

"I'm not going to kill you."

"You will have to if it comes down to it."

"Emma—"

"Promise me, Regina," Emma trembled. "I've already taken too many lives and if this doesn't work, I want you to make sure that doesn't happen again. Promise me, Regina."

"Emma, I—I promise you I'll do what I have to do," she replied, her voice wavering slightly as she was overtaken by her own emotions.

She watched Emma with tears in her eyes as she poured the potion over her head and within second she slumped back against the seat and the glass vial rolled out of her lip hand and on to the floor by her feet. She shifted the gear back into drive and reached for the scroll that would allow them to pass over the town line together.

She saw the Blue Fairy waiting along with a few others she'd brought along with her from the convent. They weren't alone either and she groaned quietly when she saw Snow White and Charming standing by the sheriff's cruiser about twenty five feet back from the fairies. She should've expected them to be there along with the dwarves who were off to the side of the road.

She held on to the scroll with the hand she had on the steering wheel and reached over to grab Emma's hand in the seconds before the car rolled across the town line. She slammed her foot on the brake immediately and let go of Emma's hand. David was the first to reach the passenger side of the car and he pulled Emma out, gently laying her down on the asphalt while Blue led the other fairies into a chant that was the very beginning of the spell.

Regina exited the car on shaky legs and she braced a hand against the hood and watched with bated breath as the swirl of magic flowed around the circle the fairies made around Emma's unconscious body.

"Regina," Snow said quietly as she approached her. "Regina, tell me this is going to work. Tell me that she's going to be okay."

"I—I don't—I—"

"I can lose her like this," Snow whimpered. " _We_ can't lose her like this."

"We won't."

Regina wiped the tears from her eyes and continued to watch and while she knew the spell was a complex one, Blue had assured her that it wasn't impossible. Somehow, the fairies had located the Dark One's dagger and it was clutched tightly in Blue's right hand and the wand that had one belonged to the Apprentice in the other.

She wasn't sure when she had reached for Snow's hand, nor was she sure when the ripple of magic in the air became heavier, but it felt as if time had come to a stop as the fairies continued to chant and the magic flowed around Emma's body.

She felt Snow grip on to her hand when the magic tried to enter Emma's body and was instantly rejected, forced out by the Dark One's magic as it was clear it was fighting to keep a hold of Emma completely. Her body started to move, but her eyes remained closed. Every violent jerk of her body caused Regina's breath to catch in her throat and she wanted to surge forward, but whether it was to help them or stop them, she wasn't entirely sure.

Regina let go of Snow's hand at the first sickening crack when Emma's back arched clear off the asphalt and it was Snow's grip on her arms that stopped her from surging forward, from crying out that they were hurting her.

"She's okay," Snow whispered, her grip tightening. "She's okay, Regina. She's strong. She can—"

Snow gasped at the second sickening crunch of bone and Regina's tears burned in her eyes and she tried to swallow past the growing lump that had risen in her throat. Blue started chanting louder, both hands trembling as she took a few tentative steps towards Emma and she lowered the dagger towards her chest slowly.

The fairies stopped chanting, but the magic continued to flow around the circle they had created. Regina watched as Blue used the wand and touched it to the edge of the dagger, chanting quietly just under her breath. Regina could taste the magic, a mix of dark and light, and it made her skin prickle. She glanced down at her trembling hands as tiny little shocks of red and purple light shot out and she balled her hands into tight fists before looking back over at Emma.

The first threads of blackness began to rise from her body and it swirled around the dagger that Blue held over her chest. Regina knew exactly what she was doing and that was confining the Dark One within it's own dagger, something that shouldn't have even been possible and might not have been if it hadn't been for the Apprentice's wand.

Every minute that passed felt like an eternity and Regina could do nothing but stand there and watch, just as everyone else that had come there was doing. Snow didn't let go of her, but her grip loosened after a handful of minutes had passed. With the last few tendrils of darkness sinking into the dagger, Emma's eyes went wide as she gasped loudly. Blue pulled the dagger from her and turned towards the town line. She threw the dagger hard and it soared through the air, disintegrating the moment it hit the barrier.

"Emma!" Snow cried out and she surged forward and past the fairies that still stood in a circle around Emma. "Emma!"

Emma looked weak and her pale skin looked ashen. Regina watched her chest rise and fall one last time before she pushed past the fairies and fell to her knees beside Emma's lifeless body.

"Regina, what's happening?" Snow asked tearfully. "Is it the potion?"

Regina shook her head slowly and she could feel something inside of her break. "No," she murmured and she reached out to check for Emma's pulse. "No."

"Is she—"

"Yes."

"No!" Snow wailed just as David knelt beside her and wrapped his arms around her tightly. "No! She's not dead! She can't be dead! Regina, fix this. Do something! Save her, please!"

But everything faded away and all Regina could see was Emma lying lifelessly on the ground in front of her. Her hands shook as she lifted one to wipe at the solitary tear that had slipped free from Emma's closed eyes. Her skin was clammy and cold, but still she let her fingers trail over her cheek.

Regina had known that it might be impossible for Emma to survive the spell. The Blue Fairy hadn't needed to tell her that the risk was high because she knew. She knew and now she wished they had never returned to Storybrooke because it was all for naught.

"Regina," David said as he reached out for her. "Can you save her?"

"I—I don't know how."

"You do," he said. "You do know how, you're just afraid to."

"Why are you afraid, Regina?" Snow whispered. "Please, save her."

Regina knew what David was suggesting, to save Emma with True Love's kiss. She was afraid for many reasons and mostly because she wasn't certain it would even work or if it were even possible that they were each other's True Love.

"Regina, you have to try," David said. "Please."

"Try what?" Snow asked him. "David, tell me!"

"I think you know," he said and he looked over at Regina. "Please."

Regina wet her lips before looking back down at Emma. Her heart felt empty yet full at the same time as she stared down at the woman she once thought she'd never harbour any feelings for other than ones stemmed in hatred. Those feelings were long gone and replaced with nothing but love. Whether it was True Love or not was something she was about to find out for herself.

"Come back to me," she whispered so softly as she ducked her head down and pressed her lips to Emma's gently. "Emma, come back to me. I love you…"


	12. Chapter 12

_Six Weeks Later…_

Regina wiped her hands on the white dishtowel before turning to look back at Henry who was hunched over a bowl of cereal at the island counter and going over his math homework that was due that morning. Regina placed the dishtowel on the counter before reaching for her cup of coffee, smiling a little before she took a sip.

"Are you driving me this morning, Mom?"

"Would you like me to?"

"It's not too cold out and Grace kind of wanted me to walk with her to school today."

"Oh?" Regina asked with an eyebrow raised. "Just as you have been almost every day for the past several weeks?"

"Yeah," Henry mumbled under his breath, colour rising in his cheeks. "It's okay if I walk with her again today?"

"Of course, dear," Regina replied. "Just make sure you aren't late."

"That only happened last Thursday because Grace forgot her science book and we went back to get it," he said and he frowned deeply. "No other reason!"

"I wasn't suggesting that there was," Regina replied and she hid her knowing smile behind her mug.

She had caught Henry and Grace kissing more than a handful of times over the weeks when she was on her way to the office and happened to take the same route they walked to the school. She hadn't let him know she'd seen that because he was already embarrassed enough as it was after telling her that Grace was his girlfriend. They never talked about it, but Regina's mind was in constant worry, especially after she had discovered the small box of condoms Henry had hidden in the bottom of his sock drawer after she'd put his laundry away just that past weekend.

"I might not be home until dinner," Henry said before he cleared away his empty bowl, rinsing it in the sink before putting it away in the dishwasher. "Grace and I are going to go to Granny's with a few of our friends after school."

"That sounds like fun," Regina said with a smile. "Just be home for six."

"I will."

"Unless," she said, pausing as Henry turned to look at her with wide eyes. "Unless you decide to eat at Granny's then I expect you home no later than nine. If you have homework, I want you home at eight."

"Okay, Mom."

Regina glanced at the clock on the stove and motioned notably that he needed to get going. After Henry gave her a quick hug and a small kiss to the cheek, he was off and she barely blinked until she heard the front door slam shut behind him.

She sipped from her mug before she walked out of the kitchen and headed into her study. She wasn't planning on going to the office that day at all since Thursday's had been the day she stayed at home and only took calls of utmost importance. She sat at her desk and booted up her computer, sipping her coffee slowly as she waited. She checked her private line for any messages, but it was still early yet and there hadn't been any calls so far.

Regina checked through her emails and then her schedule for the following day, making a few little changes that she forwarded to her assistant immediately. She returned to the kitchen for her second cup of coffee and by the time she sat back down at her desk, she had confirmation from her assistant to cancel her meetings the following day and only to forward calls that met certain expectations of importance.

She spent the better part of an hour replying to emails before she shut the computer down and took her empty mug into the kitchen. Just as she grabbed a clean mug from the cupboard, the doorbell rang. With a roll of her eyes, she headed to the front door and opened it, not surprised in the least to find David standing there on her front porch.

"Good morning, Regina," he said with a smile.

"Good morning, David," she replied with a smile of her own. "What do I owe the pleasure of having you on my doorstep at nine in the morning?"

"I was in the area," David said with a nonchalant shrug. "Did Henry walk with Grace again to school this morning?"

"Of course he did."

"Of course," David chuckled and he scratched at the side of his cheek, his facial hair growing out more than Snow normally allowed him to. "Snow mentioned that you found them. I should've told you before you did."

"You bought them for him?" Regina asked and David subtly shook his head no with a shrug of his shoulders. "It is a yes or no question, Charming."

"He asked me," he said quietly. "He's not having sex, Regina, if that's what you're worried about. He said he just wanted to be prepared."

"I know. I—I was a bit startled when I found them. It wasn't intentional, mind you, but I was still put in a place that I—"

"Haven't been prepared for. I know. I told you before I am here for you, Regina. I may not have raised a teenager before nor have I been one in this world, but I am still here for you. And Henry."

"Would you like to come in for a cup of coffee?"

"No," David said with a shake of his head. "I should get back out on patrol. Oh, one more thing, is Sunday still all right with you?"

"It's fine. I'll give Snow a call later to confirm. I've been a little busy lately and it just happened to slip my mind. We would love to come over for dinner."

"Wonderful."

"Have a good day, Sheriff," Regina said sweetly and he gave her a curt nod with a similar smile before he turned on his heels and headed down the front walkway.

Regina shut and locked the front door before returning to the kitchen. She poured the coffee into the clean mug and scrunched up her face a little when she added the four spoons of sugar and the vanilla flavoured creamer. She placed the spoon in the sink and carried the mug carefully up the stairs.

Her first stop is quick, just a glance into Henry's room to make sure that he had made his bed that morning and he had. Her second stop is just as quick when she finds the guest bed empty and the sheets mussed up. With a sigh, she walked down the hall to her own bedroom and eased open the closed door. The drapes were drawn shut, keeping out the morning sunlight and her bed was anything but empty as she had left it more than an hour before. She stepped inside the room with a soft sigh and placed the mug of hot coffee down on the bedside table.

She quietly shut the door and pulled off her robe, smoothing her hands over her silk pajama's before she lifted the sheets and slipped into the warmth of the bed. She closed her eyes as she laid her head down on the pillow and she couldn't help but smile when she felt herself being pulled into a warm embrace.

"You know our arrangement, and you promised to honour it," Regina said quietly. "We don't sleep in the same bed until we tell Henry about us."

"I know," Emma whispered huskily into her neck. "It's just that your bed is so much more comfortable and I was kind of hoping you'd come back to bed. I know you're off today."

Regina sighed and moved her arms to wrap them around Emma. She had to bite back the moan that nearly slipped out when her hands found nothing but bare skin. She ran her hands along the small of Emma's back and her fingers trailed along the hem of her panties. She let out a soft, subtle sigh of relief that Emma hadn't crawled into her bed completely nude.

"What exactly were your intentions, Swan?" Regina asked teasingly.

"I was hoping we could sleep in. Together."

With a wave of her hand, the drapes parted and enveloped the room in the soft morning light, light that resembled the same light as their shared dreams. "Is that right?"

"Did you have to do that?" Emma groaned and she buried her face into the side of Regina's neck. "I'm so tired, Regina."

"You've been doing nothing but sleep most days," she gently reminded her. "Are you having nightmares again, Emma?"

"Not as bad as they were a few weeks ago."

She knew, if anything, that was all she'd get out of Emma until she was ready to talk to her about the nature of her nightmares. Although she had an idea, she also wasn't willing to speculate just what they were. Emma needed time, and time she was giving her, especially since their return to Storybrooke that had changed their lives forever.

Emma had been dead for a handful of minutes, but those few minutes had felt like a lifetime to Regina. She still could remember how broken she felt inside when she realized that they had failed. They failed to save her because she hadn't been strong enough to fight to stay alive during the spell to remove the Dark One's essence from inside her own soul.

Even David knew and believed that True Love's kiss would save Emma. He believed in it more than she did in the moments leading up to that very kiss that changed everything. It was a moment she often thought about, but didn't talk about with Emma after the first and only time she explained to her what had happened. She dreamt of that moment more times that she could count and it was always the very first thought on her mind and one that lingered always throughout each day.

_"Come back to me," she whispered so softly as she ducked her head down and pressed her lips to Emma's gently. "Emma, come back to me. I love you…"_

_Everything was still and even the wind had stopped blowing as the soft rustle of the leaves on the trees had quieted down. Regina's heart was thumping hard in her chest and she shook her head and blinked past the tears that had welled up in her eyes. Emma lay as still as she had been before, but something inside of Regina urged her to try again, to kiss her again. She trembled and it was the gut-wrenching sobs that came from Snow that pulled her out of the fog she had slipped into._

_"Please," she murmured quietly. "Come back to me, Emma."_

_She took a deep breath and searched for that feeling deep inside her broken heart, the light and the love she felt for the woman lying still beneath her. She had to hold on to the belief that what they had as real and true. She pressed her lips to Emma's once more as the tears slid past her tightly clenched eyelids and she lingered, not wanting to pull back, hoping and willing for the power of True Love to save her, to bring her back to life._

_Each second that passed in that moment felt like an eternity, but then she felt it, the most powerful feeling she had ever felt before, even more so than when she had experienced the first time years ago when she had kissed Henry's forehead to bring back all of his memories, breaking the curse he had been under that made him forget._

_It was the collective gasp that came from everyone around them that caused her to open her eyes and pull back away from Emma suddenly. She watched with bated breath as Emma's eyes fluttered open and she took a deep breath, gasping as she reached up to place her hands on Regina's shoulders._

_"Emma."_

_"Hi," Emma whispered._

_"Hi," Regina whispered back._

_Despite the fact her knees hurt from kneeling on the rough asphalt, she just smiled down at Emma and allowed herself to be pulled back in for another kiss, one that was not one sided and one that left her breathless. Regina rises from the ground first and with a hand outstretched down to Emma, she helped her up to her feet and she was taken back by the fact that Emma's arms immediately wrapped around her, holding her tight._

_The fact that they had an audience was brought back to her attention the moment she felt two other sets of arms wrap around them both. Regina had felt, in that moment, that she was intruding on something far too personal for her to be a part of, but Emma's held her tightly and nuzzled her nose against her neck, her breath hot against her skin._

_"I knew you could do it," David whispered as he lifted his head from her shoulder to look into her eyes. "I knew, I just hoped you believed in it yourself."_

_"Thank you," Regina whispered and in the moments that followed, the embrace ended and she found herself facing Snow White. "I—I don't know what to say," she said when she noticed the intense look of scrutiny in her eyes. "Snow, I—"_

_"I'm just so very grateful that you saved her, Regina," she said quietly. "Thank you, Regina." Regina just smiled and watched Snow reel back to face her husband. "David, how long have you known?"_

_"A little while."_

_"And you didn't tell me!"_

_"It wasn't my place to say," David replied. "But," he paused as he looked over at Regina and then at Emma before he continued, "I think you knew too. I think you've always known, Snow."_

_"I can't believe you didn't tell me!"_

_"What happened?" Emma asked Regina and she placed a hand on the small of her back, which caused Regina to lean in to her touch and to turn to look at her. "What happened, Regina? Is it gone?"_

_"Can you feel it anymore?"_

_"No," Emma said with a shake of her head. "I don't."_

_"I—I didn't save you, Emma."_

_"You did," Emma smiled. "You brought me back. I was gone, but you brought me back. How did you do it, Regina?"_

_Regina could feel all eyes on her and she wet her suddenly dry lips before she allowed herself to truly look at Emma. "I—"_

_"Perhaps you two should speak about this alone," Snow interrupted and with a small yet knowing smile, she took her husband's hand in her own and led him away._

_The others began to disband, the fairies already magically transporting themselves back to the convent, one by one. The dwarves, after expressing their gratitude to Regina for saving Emma, piled into Sneezy's van and they were off without another word._

_"Regina?" Emma asked as she reached for her hand. "What happened? How did you bring me back? Magic?"_

_"Not exactly," Regina whispered. "I kissed you."_

_"You kissed me?"_

_Regina nodded and pressed her lips together tightly, allowing Emma a few moments just to catch up and when she did, her eyes went wide and she gasped quietly before she gave Regina's hand a tight squeeze._

_"It worked?" Emma asked, her voice cracking under the emotions she no doubt was experiencing just as Regina was. "You brought me back with True Love's kiss?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Does that mean—"_

_"I am not sure what it means right now, Emma, but perhaps we can take some time to figure it all out."_

_"Okay," Emma replied without hesitation. "What are we going to tell Henry?"_

_"I don't know," Regina said and she let out a deflated sigh. "Perhaps we should figure out things on our own before we tell him anything at all."_

_"Okay, but he's a smart kid, he'll figure it out before we tell him."_

_Regina laughed, knowing how true that possibly was, but she let go of Emma's hand and motioned over to the car. "Let's worry about that when the time comes."_

They didn't talk much more about things that night, not even when they glossed over some of the details of the spell the fairies had used to extract the Dark One's essence and destroy it and the dagger completely. Henry had been satisfied with what he had been told and it was he who asked—begged—Regina to let Emma stay with them that night. It was how their arrangement came into place, with Regina having Emma promise to stay only in the guest room if she was staying at the house with them. Even knowing that everything had changed between them, with what happened in New York City and at the town line, they still had a long way to go and a lot to figure out along the way.

For six weeks, Emma stayed at the house most nights and she was there most days as well, hiding away in the guest bedroom and curled up in the bed, sleeping for hours on an end before she was urged out of bed to eat, to shower, sometimes even just to join Regina in the study for a drink or two. It was three weeks before Regina allowed Emma to kiss her, and she had tried many times to in the days leading up to that first kiss since she had brought Emma back to life. Back to her.

Regina knew she wanted more than what they had, but she was afraid for many reasons. She didn't want to rush anything with Emma because she knew how delicate her emotions were. While the Dark One was no longer a part of her, the memories were and she knew those memories were very much a part of her nightmares she struggled with night after night. She wanted things to be easy between them, thinking that they should be because she had brought her back to life with True Love's kiss, but nothing was ever easy in either of their lives, their relationship now included in that equation.

Emma had certainly not been shy in voicing that she wanted more, that she wanted to pursue their relationship officially. In those rare moments that Regina allowed herself to indulge in kissing Emma, things had grown heated fairly quickly and she had put a stop to it almost immediately each time.

Regina shifted slightly in Emma's embrace and she closed her eyes as Emma's lips ghosted over her neck lightly. Her own hands trailed over Emma's back and stopped to where her tank top had bunched up and she smoothed the soft material back down gently. Emma nuzzled her nose into her neck and kissed along her pulse point, her hand moving from her hip and up her arm, over her shoulder until she stopped at the curve of her neck.

"I thought you wanted to sleep in," Regina murmured and it elicited a throaty laugh past Emma's lips. "Emma?"

"Hmm?" Emma leaned back just enough to look into Regina's eyes as her fingers traced over the collar of her pajama shirt. When her fingers reached the first button, she tugged at it gently and when Regina didn't stop her, she unbuttoned it slowly. "Regina," she murmured. "I want to kiss you."

"Kiss me."

"Are you going to stop me again?" Emma asked timidly. "Regina?"

"No."

"I want to move forward with you," she continued and Regina nodded, wanting the same thing despite her fears of what will happen when they did take that next step. "God, I can't stop thinking about that last night in New York," she whispered. "I know we were going too fast—"

"I'm afraid," Regina admitted, cutting her off and Emma just stared at her curiously.

"Afraid of what?"

"Of allowing myself to be with you," she replied.

"Are you afraid of being intimate with me?"

"Amongst other things."

"You don't need to be," Emma smiled. "In case you have forgotten already, I'm in love with you too. You don't need to be afraid, Regina. I know this is something so very new for you, but…"

"But?"

Emma inhaled sharply and a slight blush crept over her cheeks. "If you knew how _wet_ you make me when you kiss me…" She trailed off and moved the hand that was lingering on the second button to place it over Regina's hand that was resting on her hip. She could feel Emma tremble as she just traced her fingers over hers. "Nobody has ever made me feel the way that you do even when you just touch me or look at me."

"How do I make you feel, Emma?"

"Whole." Emma kissed her softly, their lips lingering just for a moment. "Loved." She kissed her again, nipping playfully at her top lip. "Horny."

Regina rolled her eyes and chuckled lowly. "I knew there was another reason why you were in my bed this morning," she said quietly and Emma smirked before dipping her head down to capture Regina's lips once more.

"I swear," she whispered breathlessly against Regina's lips. "My intentions were completely that of the innocent kind."

"I don't believe that for a second."

"Can I kiss you?"

"Aren't you already doing that?" Regina asked in between light kisses they shared back and forth.

Emma shook her head before moving to lay on top of her and she trailed her lips along her jaw and to her ear. "I want to kiss you _everywhere_."

Regina couldn't stop the moan that escaped past her lips just as Emma brought their lips together in another kiss, this one far more heated and filled with heady passion. Regina pressed a hand to Emma's lower back, pulling her flush down against her as the kiss deepened and Emma's hips started to subtly move against hers.

As Emma's tongue teased over her own, Regina found the fear of being intimate with her slipping away and her hands grew bolder, more confident as she slid them down over the curve of her ass that her panties barely covered and took the sheets down with them. She gripped tightly on to the pliable flesh, eliciting a moan past Emma's lips that fluttered through her entire body.

Emma straddled her hips and moved her lips down over the column of Regina's neck. She had one hand on the mattress beside Regina's shoulder and the other was trailing lightly over the second button of her shirt. Regina moaned and grasped at Emma's hips before sliding her hands under her shirt and raked her nails over her skin. She could feel the heat coming from Emma's cunt as she rolled her hips down against her lower abdomen. She moved her hands back down to grasp at Emma's ass, pulling her harder against her.

"Can I?" Emma murmured against her skin just below her collarbone and Regina nodded wordlessly as her fingers slipped under the edge of the tight panties. "If you want to stop, tell me. Just say the word and we'll stop."

"Okay."

Emma smiled before she shifted her body down a little and placed a knee between Regina's legs when she spread them just a little. Emma traced a finger over the skin that was already exposed before unbuttoning the second button and she moved to kiss along her skin lightly. With every button she undid, she placed a kiss upon her skin, her fingertips grazing but never wandering far. She moved lower, slowly, stopping when she reached the very last button and placed a lingering kiss just below her navel. She leaned back and with both hands, she parted the silk shirt, exposing Regina's top half to the slight chill that hung in the air and to Emma's hungry, lust-filled eyes.

Regina's eyes slid shut when she felt Emma's tongue laving over her skin, slowly making the ascent up her abdomen and towards her breasts. Regina moved her hands into Emma's hair, threading her fingers through the softness of it as Emma began to pepper light, open-mouthed kisses along the valley between her breasts.

She only opened her eyes when Emma moved to kiss the tip of her nose and she smiled up at her before lovingly stroking her fingers over her cheeks. Emma said not a word as she moved to press her lips to her forehead and moved down to kiss along her neck while easing her out of her shirt completely. Her lips trailed over one shoulder and then the other, before she haphazardly tossed the shirt to the floor.

Emma hadn't been kidding when she said she wanted to kiss her everywhere, because she took her time, kissing down along one arm and stopping to place a lingering kiss to the palm of her hand before moving to the other to repeat the same action. Regina stopped her and pulled her back in for another kiss, one that quickly became hungry and desperate with need. Regina smoothed her hands down Emma's back and grasped at the hem of her tank top, bunching it tightly with both hands as they began to grind against one another.

Emma moaned as they broke away from their heated kiss and she licked over her lips, humming softly before she leaned back and allowed Regina to pull her tank top up and over her head before she tossed it aside. She placed her hands on Emma's hips, her eyes drinking in every inch of skin on display in front of her. Any hesitation that had been there before had all but disappeared as Regina smoothed her hands up Emma's toned abs and up over the small curve of her breasts. She swiped her thumbs over Emma's hard and deliciously pink nipples before Emma ducked her head back down to kiss her once more.

Regina was forced to move her hands away and she slid them down her sides, drawing out a breathy moan past Emma's lips and along her own. Regina could feel the wetness pooling in her pajama bottoms and she knew there was no doubt that Emma could feel it too with every press of her thigh between her legs. She easily found Emma's right hand and guided down her body, wanting Emma to touch her, needing her to, no longer afraid of taking that next step at all.

"You make me wet too," Regina whispered huskily against her lips as they parted slightly from their kiss.

"Fuck," Emma trembled as Regina guided her hand between her legs. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"What about Henry?"

Regina groaned quietly. "He's at school," she muttered. "And I don't want to talk about our son right now. In fact, I don't want to talk at all."

"What do you want, Regina?"

"I want you to keep your promise of wanting to kiss me _everywhere_."

Emma moaned and she rubbed her fingers over Regina's cunt lightly, almost as if she were testing the waters still. Regina just lifted her hips and moaned at the touch, wanting more, wanting to feel her fingers fully against her and not just through the soaked fabric of her pajama pants.

Emma kissed her, her lips lingering just for a moment before she trailed her lips down her neck and along her collarbone. Her fingers stilled as she moved her lips to wrap around an erect nipple, eliciting a moan past Regina's lips. She arched into Emma's mouth, needing more, and Emma complied, sucking on her nipple hard enough to leave her treading the line between pain and pleasure.

Regina sighed out contently as Emma moved to lick and nip at her other nipple, her fingers stroking slowly over her clit and the friction from her soaked pants was only causing her to whimper out, her arousal heightening with every pass of Emma's fingers over her clit. She gripped at Emma's shoulders, her nails digging into her skin, and she wanted to beg her to slide her hand inside her pajama pants and to touch her fully without any barriers in between her fingers and her wet cunt.

She whimpered when Emma's hand moved away from between her legs and she focused solely on the feel of Emma's wet, warm lips trailing down her torso languidly and not at all on the constant throb of her clit that beat in time to her racing heart. She tried not to squirm when Emma placed a kiss just above the waistband of her pants and she inhaled deeply, holding her breath as Emma began to ease them down, her lips kissing along every inch of exposed skin ever so lightly.

She leaned up on her elbows to watch as Emma slowly removed her pants, kissing along the top of her thighs, alternating back and forth. She smiled up at Regina before placing a kiss on the top of one knee and then the other. She could feel Emma tremble slightly as she slid the pants down her calves and followed the path with her lips, each kiss lingering and light. She stopped when she reached her ankle, nipping playfully at the skin as she pulled the pants off of her completely.

Regina groaned in frustration as her arousal heightened with every kiss Emma placed along each leg, each one ascending higher until she parted her legs with a gentle push at both her knees. Regina bit her bottom lip and watched as Emma just drank in the sight of her spread open before her. She had never felt so vulnerable as she had in that very moment, but that feeling was fleeting the moment Emma moved to place a kiss on her inner right thigh as her fingers skirted over the soft, tender flesh of her bare pussy.

"Emma," Regina murmured as she teased a single finger over her throbbing clit.

"Hmm?" Emma placed another kiss to her left thigh, just mere inches away from where she wanted her lips the most. "I did promise to kiss you _everywhere_ , Regina," she whispered and she could feel Emma's hot breath against her wetness. "And I plan to. Ever so slowly."

"Tease."

Emma smirked before taking a playful and teasing swipe at her cunt. "Hmm," she moaned and exhaled sharply before taking another taste of her.

Regina threw her head back against the pillow and moaned as Emma's mouth covered her pussy and her tongue teased along her slit languidly. She gripped at the sheets tightly and Emma slipped her legs over her shoulders and circled her clit with her tongue before sucking on it lightly, drawing out one moan after another past Regina's parted lips. From the vibrating moans that Regina could not only hear but feel, she knew Emma was thoroughly enjoying herself as she teased her with the tip of her tongue. While this had happened during their shared dream, it was far different than it had been then. This was real and Regina could feel the heat of Emma's tongue against her sensitive flesh and it turned her on to no end.

"Emma!" Regina cried out when she felt Emma slide her tongue inside her clenching hole. "Oh gods," she moaned as Emma used the pad of her thumb to circle over her clit, her tongue driving deep and fast inside of her relentlessly.

Regina had to resist the urge to sink her hands into Emma's hair and pull her harder against her cunt and she felt the sheets begin to tear as she gripped on to them even tighter so. She could feel her orgasm building deep inside of her, coursing its way through her body at a steady pace, building up until she was on the verge of coming undone within minutes.

She was shaking as she came and Emma held firm on to her thighs as she licked over her languidly, drawing out her orgasm. Regina cried out her name, over and over until she felt her body go slack and a delicious hum of pleasure flowed through every inch of her. She was smiling as Emma kissed her way up her body and settled on top of her, their lips meeting with ease and they kissed deeply, Regina tasting herself on Emma's lips and tongue for the first time. It only caused her to become more aroused, almost painfully so, and with a small snap of her fingers, she magicked Emma's panties away and felt her soft, smooth flesh against her own.

"That's cheating," Emma murmured. "Not that I'm complaining, but that's totally cheating."

"Says the tease."

"You loved it," Emma grinned against her lips.

"Yes," Regina chuckled and she stroked her fingers along Emma's back. "I most definitely did."

"Regina!" Emma gasped when Regina flipped them over, with a tiny bit of aid from her magic to make it happen with ease. "Regina," she murmured quietly and she moaned when Regina ground her cunt down against hers. "Are you still afraid?"

"A little."

"You won't do anything wrong," Emma whispered. "Kiss me?"

"Is that all you want?"

"What do _you_ want, Regina?"

"You. I want to touch you," she admitted easily. "I want to kiss you, I want to…make love to you, and I want to watch you as you cum for me."

A sexy, low growl escaped past Emma's lips and Regina kissed her then, hard in wanting. Emma's hands fell to her hips and she guided her into a pace that had them both moaning and grasping at one another, needing and wanting to feel each other completely. Emma gasped and Regina pulled back in alarm, but that quickly passed when she saw nothing but pleasure rolling over Emma's soft features and she pressed her cunt harder against hers, watching her as her orgasm took over her suddenly.

"Gods, you are beautiful," Regina murmured, not stopping as she peppered Emma's face and lips with kisses. "So very beautiful."

"I love you," Emma sighed and she smiled as she raked her nails up and down Regina's back lightly. "I do. I love you."

"I love you too, darling."

"Where are you going?" Emma laughed when Regina moved to roll off of her. "Did you think we were done?"

"We're not?"

Emma shook her head and pulled her back on top of her. "Not at all. Not by a long shot."

"Is that right?"

"Oh you have no idea," Emma chuckled. "No idea what so ever."

"Then," Regina smirked as she slipped her hand between their bodies and down over Emma's slick pussy, teasing over her clit, "I definitely cannot wait to find out."

[X]

It was late in the afternoon by the time the both collapsed on the bed side by side, their bodies sweaty and sticky and deliciously sore. They had taken one another, over and over again, and every time Regina grew more confident, further exploring every inch of Emma's body with not only her hands, but her lips, teeth and tongue. She had never been intimate in quite the way that they had, nor had she ever lost herself within another the way she did with Emma, over and over again.

"Mm," Emma smiled as she turned to lay on her stomach beside her and propped her head up on her hand. "God, Regina," she sighed and lifted her other hand to trace along the love bites she'd left behind on her breasts. "You are insatiable, aren't you?"

"Only with you."

"Regina," Emma smiled at her and splayed her palm flat against her abdomen. "When are we going to tell Henry?"

"About what happened that night or about us?"

"Both."

Regina sighed since this was not a conversation she had thought they'd have after making love the first time—and dozens more times after that. She turned to lay on her side, facing Emma and bringing their hands together in the small space between them.

"I'm not sure what to tell him about us, Emma," Regina admitted quietly. "How do we explain how we feel about one another to him?"

"He'll understand," Emma replied. "Just tell him the truth."

"What if he asks how long we've felt this way?" Regina asked. "What do we tell him then because it's all so very complicated, isn't it?"

"Why don't we just tell him it happened in New York?" Emma offered. "It's not exactly stretching the truth. It kind of really did happen there when you think about it."

"I do think about it," Regina smiled. "Often."

Emma leaned forward to kiss her lightly and pulled back with an adorable smile curling over her lips. "So?"

"So?"

"When are we going to tell him, Regina?"

"Soon," she replied softly. "Tonight, perhaps, when he comes home. I think he has a date with Grace, but he didn't call it that. I think he's a bit embarrassed to admit he's going out on a date with her."

"We should do that too," Emma said. "Go out on another date."

"In Storybrooke?" Regina raised an eyebrow. "Won't the people in this town absolutely love to see that. Why not give them something more to gossip about?"

"Regina—"

"I want our time together to be private, Emma. I want to be able to hold your hand and kiss you without anyone watching. I want many things, things that some people in this town believe that I truly do not deserve at all."

"They're wrong, you know," she whispered. "You deserve everything, you deserve happiness, and if I can give you that happiness, well fuck what anyone else thinks."

"As eloquent as always, darling," Regina replied with a small chuckle. "And you do make me happy, happier than I ever though anyone ever would. When you sacrificed yourself to save me, I knew I had to do anything that I could to save you. After I saw what you had become, I thought I was going to lose you, Emma, and at that point I had nothing left to lose. I was wrong. I had everything to lose and I don't ever want to lose you."

"You won't," Emma promised as she kissed her soundly. "You won't lose me, Regina. Not ever."

"Not ever, hmm?"

"Nope," Emma grinned. "I'm afraid you're stuck with me now."

"Is that right?"

Emma nodded and moved to straddle her hips. "Yes, and after we tell Henry, I'm never sleeping in the guest bedroom again."

"Oh you think that is how it is going to work now, do you?"

"Yes, because I know you miss it. I know you miss sleeping in the same bed. You can deny it all that you want to, Gina, but I know that week we spent in New York was the first time you ever slept throughout the night every single night."

"And as I suspect, after today, there won't be much sleeping involved for much of the night for the next long while."

Regina loved the way that Emma laughed just before she kissed her thoroughly. She loved the way she flicked her tongue at her top lip in between those deep, lingering kisses that always left her wanting more. But the thing she loved move was how happy she felt, especially in those moments when all they did was simply look at one another.

They still had such a very long way to go, together and on their own. Emma would always be battling the darkness that lingered behind just as she would always battle her own inner demons and her past. Yet, with everything they had gone through, especially in the last couple of months, Regina had a feeling that they would get through just about anything together. They were, after all, stronger together and their past was proof of that.

The next step they had to take was to tell their son of their ever-changing relationship. It was something that already made Regina anxious just thinking about sitting him down and talking to him about the fact they were together. Emma had to have sensed the shift in her, the anxiety that was already sliding into place because when she kissed her, all her worries and her fears seemed to just slip away.

"Don't think about anything else right now," Emma murmured against her lips. "It's just you and me right now, Regina. Just you and me."

"You and me," Regina echoed and she shook her head. "Can it be that easy?"

"It can be. Sometimes. Like today. Today was easy."

"Today is far from over yet, my love."

"I know," Emma grinned and after a moment she let out a soft sigh. "We're us. There's always going to be something I do or say that pisses you off or presses the wrong buttons, but I know there are some things that I'll do or say that presses all the right ones too and that I'll always try to make you laugh and smile."

"I'd like that. I'd like all of that."

Emma's kiss was an unspoken promise and one she knew, especially after the day they had just shared together, would be one that Emma would never break.

Emma had always been the Saviour, but in the recent months Regina had become hers. One way or another, they had always saved one another or others together Even if she hadn't already fallen in love with Emma Swan, Regina was more than certain that she would've one day. Their fate was entwined and their son brought them together.

There had been many instances where Regina had nothing left to lose, but when it came to saving Emma, she had nothing but Emma to lose, and she was so glad she never gave up, even when it seemed like she would never get her back.

Because it would always be worth fighting for the ones she loved most. Nothing in life was easy, at least the things that mattered the most, and she—of everyone—knew it all too well. She had loved Emma unconditionally, from the very beginning, through everything they'd been through together and apart, and she had never let that die off, not before she knew she loved her and not after that realization had finally come.

"You know what I'd like?" Emma asked and Regina shook her head no. "I'd like to have _you_. Over and over again."

Regina laughed and she nudged at Emma until they rolled over and she was on top once again. "I am all yours for the taking, darling."

"All mine?"

"Yes," Regina smiled and she bit her bottom lip nervously. "And you are all _mine_."

"So," Emma drawled as she cast a sideways glance at the clock on the bedside table and looked back at Regina with a smug smile. "We have a few hours until Henry comes home. Whatever shall we do until then?"

"Whatever shall we do?" Regina repeated with a subtle shake of her head. Regina nipped at Emma's lips playfully before she kissed her fully, deeply. Completely.

Something had awakened within her that day, something new and something she already knew she'd never want to part from. She didn't want to worry about the talk they'd have with their son later, she didn't want to worry about going public with their relationship or what others would think, and she didn't have to because Emma, once again, proved to be an ample distraction from her thoughts, making her forget about everything other than being with the woman that she loved most of all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all folks.
> 
> This'll be the last fic from me you'll see for awhile. I'm working on something new and won't post until I've worked through some kinks and other b/s.
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed this one.


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